chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened with COVID-19 in the Chicago area on Oct. 28

A day after indicating she would try to talk Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker out of tightening COVID-19 restrictions in Chicago , Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won ’ t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city .
“ We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well .
We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together , ” Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.
” Meanwhile , the state also said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker ’ s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds , leading to tighter restrictions .
Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8 % for three consecutive days , the governor ’ s office said .
Earlier on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide , the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday .
In all , there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois .
With 51 additional fatalities also reported , the statewide death toll stands at 9,619 .
8:05 p.m. : CPS parents appeal to Board of Ed for more details on reopening plans What happens if a student takes off their mask in a pod ?
What if someone in their pod has a medical mask exemption ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for students who need help eating or using the restroom ?
What if a sibling has to quarantine ?
On the deadline for students in preschool and special education cluster programs to decide whether they will return to in-person learning next quarter , parents and educators sought details and advocated for their children at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday .
Many also tweeted their concerns at Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a campaign this week organized by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education .
The parents ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communicating its plans , even as the district revealed more details at the meeting .
Northwestern University in Evanston and Loyola University Chicago both shared plans Wednesday for expanded campus re-openings next term despite the ongoing surge of COVID-19 prompting greater restrictions in Chicago and its suburbs .
The announcements from the schools , which have predominantly residential campuses , come as the state reported 6,110 newly confirmed cases of the virus ― the second highest daily tally since the pandemic began .
While acknowledging the lingering challenges of the virus , officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more students on campus and in dorms and expand in-person offerings .
6:55 p.m. : Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane , DuPage counties .
But health departments paint a vague picture of the data .
The day after he announced increased restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Kane and DuPage counties , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker doubled down on his heightened mitigation measures .
“ In region 8 ( Kane and DuPage counties ) , for example , the number one place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people said when they were contact-traced , that they had been to either just before they got tested or after they got tested but before they got their result , was a bar or a restaurant , ” he said last week at a daily COVID-19 news conference .
“ And that ’ s true across the state.
” But information made public by health departments in Kane and DuPage counties presents a more vague picture about the exposure locations identified in COVID-19 contact tracing .
Local health departments have not made public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who tested positive for COVID-19 , and business owners and some officials continue to question whether restrictions on restaurants and bars are targeting the right places .
Officials with both health departments say eating and drinking indoors can pose a virus risk , and they encourage residents to follow state rules and take precautions .
But a Kane County Health Department spokeswoman said the agency had limited data from county contact tracing about locations , and it would be difficult to make any assumptions .
The DuPage County health department did not definitively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contact tracing .
4:40 p.m. : As state halts indoor dining in Chicago , a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure .
Its designer wants to build more , but needs financial backing .
Finding creative ways for restaurants and bars to serve guests outside might be a vital means for establishments to survive the winter , especially after Illinois moves to shut down indoor dining in Chicago and suburban Cook County this week .
Eric Cup and his McKinley Park custom manufacturing company Bridgewater Studio were not one of winners , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapidly deployed across the city .
So last week , they got together with Azul 18 in Pilsen and constructed the first version of their design .
Now , Cup is looking for corporate sponsors to financially support the project and restaurant partners interested in having the design executed at their business .
“ I thought ( the Winter Design Challenge ) was a good idea , but I really feel that something has to happen now , ” Cup said .
“ A sense of urgency to mobilize on this is just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next few months .
... We don ’ t need a perfect solution , we need a good solution now.
” 4:35 p.m. : Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas , homemade altars for Day of the Dead When she was growing up , as the Day of the Dead approached Sophia Irizarry would help her grandmother set up an altar in their living room to remember and honor their loved ones .
Putting up the ofrenda was a celebration in itself , she recalls .
Her grandmother would look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had died , telling her tales of the old times and decorating the altar with their favorite dishes , cempasuchil flowers and lots of catrinas — skeletal figures associated with the holiday .
Dia de los Muertos , celebrated in the United States Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 , and coinciding with All Saints ' Day and All Souls ' Day on the Roman Catholic calendar , was her grandmother ’ s favorite holiday , she said .
Her grandmother , Ramona Fuentes , taught her that “ It ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same time , gratefulness for everything that each person left in the world , ” she said .
This year , Irizarry had to set up the ofrenda on her own .
Her grandmother unexpectedly died from COVID-19 complications June 10 at age 82 .
Now her photo adorns the top of the ofrenda , just as photos of many other people who have died from the virus are a part of ofrendas for other Mexican American families this year .
4 p.m. : Antibody drug tested in Cook County may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show A new antibody-based drug shows promise in treating outpatients who have mild to severe COVID-19 , according to initial results of research conducted in part at Cook County Health and Northwestern University .
Patients given the drug were hospitalized or visited the emergency room less often than those given a placebo , Cook County Health officials said .
The patients receiving the drug also showed improvement within two to six days , a shorter disease course that is not only good for patients but also may reduce the amount of time a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
The drug , manufactured by Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc. , was tested on 452 outpatients at 24 medical institutions across the country , including Cook County ’ s vast public health system and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine .
Most of the 14 patients who took part at Cook County Health were Latino or Black , populations that have been hit especially hard by the disease .
The results of the continuing study , which is being run by Eli Lilly , were published Wednesday by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug , administered through a one-time infusion , includes the replicated antibodies of one of the first patients in the United States to survive COVID-19 .
It ’ s classified as a monoclonal antibody treatment , the same type of medication given to President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the disease and which he described as “ a cure.
” The drug in the Eli Lilly trial was formulated using a single antibody .
The drug Trump received was made by Regeneron and involves two antibodies .
Dr. Gregory Huhn , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arm of the Eli Lilly research conducted at Cook County Health , made it clear that the drug is a treatment , not a cure .
“ Our hope has been that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly , ” Huhn said .
“ While a vaccine is still necessary , this drug therapy has the potential to prevent bad clinical outcomes and complications of COVID-19.
” 3:25 p.m. : IHSA board goes against Pritzker , will start boys and girls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a stand at a special board meeting , deciding to go against the guidelines announced Tuesday by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health .
“ We ’ ve been on an emotional roller coaster , ” Hillcrest boys basketball coach Don Houston said .
“ Is the season starting or isn ’ t it ?
Now we know and it feels great.
” Craig Anderson , the executive director of the IHSA , had a Zoom meeting with athletic directors statewide at 3 p.m. to announce moving forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basketball from medium risk to high risk .
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov .
J.B. Pritzker out of tightening restrictions in Chicago , Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won ’ t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city .
`` We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well .
We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work hard together .
“ Obviously we ’ ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be effective.
” The day stricter state-imposed coronavirus restrictions took hold in suburban Cook County , officials announced a jobs program funded by $ 4 million in federal stimulus money to train and employ residents who are out of work due to the pandemic .
Run with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership , the program made possible by Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funnel grants toward seven workforce agencies in the suburbs , Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Wednesday .
Participants can take part in job placement , career coaching and skills training on job hunting and interview preparation .
“ This assistance is coming at a critical time in the U.S. employment market , ” Preckwinkle said at a North Riverside news conference .
“ COVID-19 has forced many local businesses to adapt to unprecedented circumstances .
As restrictions go into effect , and we know that more restrictions are going into effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers and hospitality industry professionals experience a decline in service , reduction of hours for employees , and in some cases closures.
” 11:50 a.m. : Pritzker defends tighter restrictions in Chicago in face of pushback from Lightfoot , adds Lake and McHenry counties to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned A day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot indicated she would try to change Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s mind about shutting down indoor dining and bar service in Chicago later this week , the governor reiterated that the restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as planned .
“ We have now a COVID storm that ’ s hit the entire country , frankly , I think there ’ s nobody that could turn on a television set , watch news , without seeing that it ’ s happening everywhere , and it ’ s happening across the state of Illinois .
Chicago hasn ’ t been immune from that , ” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago .
“ So as I announced yesterday , the same mitigations that went in place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have tripped those metrics , where we ’ ve got people getting sick and going into the hospital … we ’ ve imposed the same sets of mitigations and we ’ ll be doing that for the city of Chicago , ” he said .
Also Tuesday , the state said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker ’ s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds , leading to tighter restrictions .
Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8 % for three consecutive days , the governor ’ s office said .
In the face of growing criticism , he defended those measures on Wednesday as being “ effective , ” citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume .
10:50 a.m. : COVID-19 outbreak on Wisconsin — 12 people , including 6 players and head coach Paul Chryst — forces cancellation of Saturday ’ s Big Ten game vs. Nebraska The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days , the university announced Wednesday .
The Big Ten ’ s schedule does not allow room for makeup games , meaning Saturday ’ s game will not be rescheduled .
As of Wednesday morning , 12 people within the football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous five days , according to a news release .
Six players and six staff members tested positive with additional results pending .
At an Oct. 23 news conference , Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike became emotional while talking about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ People who started with us in 2020 and who won ’ t be with us at the Thanksgiving table.
” Ezike paused and turned away from the camera as she wiped her tears and took some time to compose herself .
She said she understands the emotional toll and knows how hard it is for everyone .
“ I don ’ t get to live in some COVID-free bubble , exempt from all the pain and tragedy of this pandemic , ” she said .
“ If you ’ re talking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mask , think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers , respiratory therapists , who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people ’ s lives , ” she added .
This has been an extreme year for health care workers .
They are not removed , Ezike said , from stressors others face in a challenging moment where “ you can ’ t actually see the end.
” Along with the stressors of parenting children who are remote learning and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past seven months have been a cycle of hypervigilance and fear for health care workers .
Data released Monday from the American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that many are feeling stress and burnout .
Among the 862 emergency room physicians surveyed , 87 % were more stressed now than since the start of the pandemic .
Burnout causes included concerns about family , friends and personal health .
Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money and lose revenue during a pandemic that has smothered demand for new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 employees by the end of next year , down 30,000 from the start of this year .
That is far deeper than the 19,000 reduction that the company announced three months ago .
Boeing Co. updated its jobs plan on the same day it reported a $ 449 million loss for the third quarter , a swing from the $ 1.17 billion it earned in the same period last year .
The loss was narrower than analysts expected , however .
7:55 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 at East Moline Correctional Center , out of 29 in state prisons Four inmates at the East Moline Correctional Center have died from COVID-19 , all of them in October , according to authorities.The fourth death , a man in his 50s , was Monday , according to Lindsey Hess , public information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections .
As of Tuesday , 343 inmates and 33 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at the minimum-security prison , 100 Hillcrest Road , East Moline .
Deaths are not being reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IDOC .
There have been 29 inmate deaths from COVID-19 at Illinois prisons , according to Hess .
Stateville Correctional Center , near Chicago , has had 13 inmates die ; a man in his 50s was the first death on March 29 .
The next highest number of COVID-19 deaths has been at Robinson Correctional Center , where three of the five deaths were men in their 70s .
By Wednesday , more than half of Illinois residents will be under stricter measures meant to slow a surge of the coronavirus as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region outside St. Louis join four other regions where the state has shut down indoor dining and bar service and lowered the cap on crowds to 25 .
6 a.m. : For special education families , an agonizing choice on returning to school : Risk COVID-19 exposure or accept ‘ heartbreaking ’ limits of remote learning When Katherine Buitron ’ s son froze mid-sentence and collapsed on his Chromebook during a virtual class , some of his classmates were scared .
Others seemed to think he just fell asleep , she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ headaches and double vision .
Subsequent doctor ’ s appointments took even more time away from classes .
In addition to epilepsy , the fifth grader has autism and dyslexia , and is immunocompromised , Buitron said .
His two siblings also are in special education programs , but none is in the first groups of students tapped by Chicago Public Schools to return to in-person learning .
The family has already decided they ’ d continue remote learning anyway , because of health concerns , but would have a hard time making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans the district has presented .
Even with the limited details , Deidra Kenar , another CPS parent whose children have individualized education programs , would love for them to return to school .
“ We feel like the longer and longer they are away , ” she said , “ the more and more challenges that are coming up for them.
” Although their families don ’ t yet have the option to send their children back to school before the end of the calendar year , for thousands of other CPS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day is Wednesday .
Along with prekindergartners , about 5,000 students in moderate and intensive cluster programs have been identified as the first who could resume in-person learning .
That includes those who attend specialty schools where most or all students are what CPS classifies as diverse learners .
Based on families ' responses to opt-in forms due Wednesday , district officials will decide whether they can support in-person learning five days a week or use a hybrid model for specialty schools , CPS spokesman James Gherardi said .
6 a.m. : After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids give a final toast with a beloved , hard-to-find token of her youth : Tab diet pop Kathleen Berger died in May from coronavirus-related causes , leaving behind eight kids and a legacy encapsulated by a bright pink soda pop can .
Berger , who was 73 , was a voracious consumer of Tab , the saccharin-infused cola known for its distinctive packaging , vaguely metallic taste and aerobic studio vibe .
Introduced in 1963 by the Coca-Cola Co. , it was once the nation ’ s dominant diet soda , producing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called themselves Tabaholics .
But Tab lost its mojo over the decades , surpassed by Diet Coke and other carbonated descendants , and Coke finally dispatched the brand earlier this month with a eulogy of buzzwords ( “ We ’ re prioritizing bets that have scale potential across beverage categories , consumer need states and drinking occasions ” ) .
The retirement led to hoarding that soon made Tab , which was already hard to find , as rare as a white truffle .
As of Tuesday , the asking price on eBay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as $ 25 .
Berger , whose Tabaholism was second to none , would have recoiled at such a markup .
That left her children , who are spread from Seattle to Elmhurst to suburban Boston , with a challenge : locate enough Tab in the wild so they could give a final , video chat-enabled salute to their mother .
“ We were all like , ‘ All right , let ’ s go out and try to find some , and then we ’ ll do this toast to Mom , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Berger .
“ And then none of us could find it anywhere.
” Here are five stories from Tuesday related to COVID-19 :

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
A day after indicating she would try to talk Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening COVID-19 restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
“We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together,” Lightfoot said. “Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.”
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Meanwhile, the state also said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds, leading to tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Illinois health officials also announced 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday. In all, there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois. With 51 additional fatalities also reported, the statewide death toll stands at 9,619.
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Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:05 p.m.: CPS parents appeal to Board of Ed for more details on reopening plans
What happens if a student takes off their mask in a pod? What if someone in their pod has a medical mask exemption? What are the health and safety protocols for students who need help eating or using the restroom? What if a sibling has to quarantine?
On the deadline for students in preschool and special education cluster programs to decide whether they will return to in-person learning next quarter, parents and educators sought details and advocated for their children at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
Many also tweeted their concerns at Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a campaign this week organized by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education.
The parents' advocacy group said CPS has failed at communicating its plans, even as the district revealed more details at the meeting.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
7:50 p.m.: Loyola, Northwestern unveil plans to open campuses further, even as COVID-19 surges
Northwestern University in Evanston and Loyola University Chicago both shared plans Wednesday for expanded campus re-openings next term despite the ongoing surge of COVID-19 prompting greater restrictions in Chicago and its suburbs.
The announcements from the schools, which have predominantly residential campuses, come as the state reported 6,110 newly confirmed cases of the virus ― the second highest daily tally since the pandemic began.
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While acknowledging the lingering challenges of the virus, officials at both campuses said they will allow more students on campus and in dorms and expand in-person offerings.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
6:55 p.m.: Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane, DuPage counties. But health departments paint a vague picture of the data.
The day after he announced increased restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Kane and DuPage counties, Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled down on his heightened mitigation measures.
“In region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties), for example, the number one place — the number one identifiable place that people said when they were contact-traced, that they had been to either just before they got tested or after they got tested but before they got their result, was a bar or a restaurant,” he said last week at a daily COVID-19 news conference. “And that’s true across the state.”
But information made public by health departments in Kane and DuPage counties presents a more vague picture about the exposure locations identified in COVID-19 contact tracing. Local health departments have not made public information about the locations visited by those who tested positive for COVID-19, and business owners and some officials continue to question whether restrictions on restaurants and bars are targeting the right places.
Officials with both health departments say eating and drinking indoors can pose a virus risk, and they encourage residents to follow state rules and take precautions. But a Kane County Health Department spokeswoman said the agency had limited data from county contact tracing about locations, and it would be difficult to make any assumptions. The DuPage County health department did not definitively identify the top locations turning up in contact tracing.
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Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
4:40 p.m.: As state halts indoor dining in Chicago, a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure. Its designer wants to build more, but needs financial backing.
Finding creative ways for restaurants and bars to serve guests outside might be a vital means for establishments to survive the winter, especially after Illinois moves to shut down indoor dining in Chicago and suburban Cook County this week.
The city’s outdoor dining design contest netted 600 entries, with officials selecting three winners to receive $5,000 for proposals vetted for their feasibility and practical application.
Eric Cup and his McKinley Park custom manufacturing company Bridgewater Studio were not one of winners, but they were sure their ideas could be rapidly deployed across the city. So last week, they got together with Azul 18 in Pilsen and constructed the first version of their design.
Now, Cup is looking for corporate sponsors to financially support the project and restaurant partners interested in having the design executed at their business.
“I thought (the Winter Design Challenge) was a good idea, but I really feel that something has to happen now,” Cup said. “A sense of urgency to mobilize on this is just vital for these people to survive the next few months. ... We don’t need a perfect solution, we need a good solution now.”
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Read more here. —Grace Wong
4:35 p.m.: Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas, homemade altars for Day of the Dead
When she was growing up, as the Day of the Dead approached Sophia Irizarry would help her grandmother set up an altar in their living room to remember and honor their loved ones.
Putting up the ofrenda was a celebration in itself, she recalls. Her grandmother would look at old photos and reminisce about those who had died, telling her tales of the old times and decorating the altar with their favorite dishes, cempasuchil flowers and lots of catrinas — skeletal figures associated with the holiday.
Dia de los Muertos, celebrated in the United States Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, and coinciding with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the Roman Catholic calendar, was her grandmother’s favorite holiday, she said.
Her grandmother, Ramona Fuentes, taught her that “It’s a time full of nostalgia, but at the same time, gratefulness for everything that each person left in the world,” she said.
This year, Irizarry had to set up the ofrenda on her own. Her grandmother unexpectedly died from COVID-19 complications June 10 at age 82. Now her photo adorns the top of the ofrenda, just as photos of many other people who have died from the virus are a part of ofrendas for other Mexican American families this year.
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Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa
4 p.m.: Antibody drug tested in Cook County may be helpful to some COVID-19 patients, results show
A new antibody-based drug shows promise in treating outpatients who have mild to severe COVID-19, according to initial results of research conducted in part at Cook County Health and Northwestern University.
Patients given the drug were hospitalized or visited the emergency room less often than those given a placebo, Cook County Health officials said. The patients receiving the drug also showed improvement within two to six days, a shorter disease course that is not only good for patients but also may reduce the amount of time a person is infectious, helping protect other people.
The drug, manufactured by Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc., was tested on 452 outpatients at 24 medical institutions across the country, including Cook County’s vast public health system and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Most of the 14 patients who took part at Cook County Health were Latino or Black, populations that have been hit especially hard by the disease.
The results of the continuing study, which is being run by Eli Lilly, were published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The drug, administered through a one-time infusion, includes the replicated antibodies of one of the first patients in the United States to survive COVID-19. It’s classified as a monoclonal antibody treatment, the same type of medication given to President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the disease and which he described as “a cure.”
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The drug in the Eli Lilly trial was formulated using a single antibody. The drug Trump received was made by Regeneron and involves two antibodies.
Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease expert who led the arm of the Eli Lilly research conducted at Cook County Health, made it clear that the drug is a treatment, not a cure.
“Our hope has been that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly,” Huhn said. “While a vaccine is still necessary, this drug therapy has the potential to prevent bad clinical outcomes and complications of COVID-19.”
Read more here. —Hal Dardick
3:25 p.m.: IHSA board goes against Pritzker, will start boys and girls basketball seasons on time
The Illinois High School Association decided Wednesday the boys and girls basketball seasons are on after all.
The IHSA took a stand at a special board meeting, deciding to go against the guidelines announced Tuesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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Practice for boys and girls basketball was scheduled to begin Nov. 16, with games being played by Nov. 30.
“We’ve been on an emotional roller coaster,” Hillcrest boys basketball coach Don Houston said. “Is the season starting or isn’t it? Now we know and it feels great.”
Craig Anderson, the executive director of the IHSA, had a Zoom meeting with athletic directors statewide at 3 p.m. to announce moving forward with winter sports despite the IDPH changing basketball from medium risk to high risk.
Read more here. —Pat Disabato
3:10 p.m. (update): Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
"We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together.
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“Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be effective.”
Earlier Wednesday, Pritzker had defended his decision to tighten restrictions in Chicago and most other regions of the state.
Read more here. — Jamie Munks, Dan Petrella and Gregory Pratt
2:10 p.m.: Cook County launches jobs training, placement program for suburbs as stricter COVID-19 measures go into effect
The day stricter state-imposed coronavirus restrictions took hold in suburban Cook County, officials announced a jobs program funded by $4 million in federal stimulus money to train and employ residents who are out of work due to the pandemic.
Run with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, the program made possible by Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money will funnel grants toward seven workforce agencies in the suburbs, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Wednesday. Participants can take part in job placement, career coaching and skills training on job hunting and interview preparation.
“This assistance is coming at a critical time in the U.S. employment market,” Preckwinkle said at a North Riverside news conference. “COVID-19 has forced many local businesses to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. As restrictions go into effect, and we know that more restrictions are going into effect ..., we will see more restaurant workers and hospitality industry professionals experience a decline in service, reduction of hours for employees, and in some cases closures.”
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Suburban residents can apply for the jobs program here.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
11:50 a.m.: Pritzker defends tighter restrictions in Chicago in face of pushback from Lightfoot, adds Lake and McHenry counties to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned
A day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot indicated she would try to change Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mind about shutting down indoor dining and bar service in Chicago later this week, the governor reiterated that the restrictions will take effect in the city Friday, as planned.
“We have now a COVID storm that’s hit the entire country, frankly, I think there’s nobody that could turn on a television set, watch news, without seeing that it’s happening everywhere, and it’s happening across the state of Illinois. Chicago hasn’t been immune from that,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago.
“So as I announced yesterday, the same mitigations that went in place for other areas of the state that have tripped those metrics, where we’ve got people getting sick and going into the hospital … we’ve imposed the same sets of mitigations and we’ll be doing that for the city of Chicago,” he said.
Also Tuesday, the state said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds, leading to tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
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Pritzker’s administration has reimposed tougher restrictions in regions from suburban Cook County to southern Illinois when they’ve reached state-set thresholds indicating a resurgence of the coronavirus.
In the face of growing criticism, he defended those measures on Wednesday as being “effective,” citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume.
Read more here. — Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
10:50 a.m.: COVID-19 outbreak on Wisconsin — 12 people, including 6 players and head coach Paul Chryst — forces cancellation of Saturday’s Big Ten game vs. Nebraska
Wisconsin has become the first Big Ten football team to have its just-started season impacted by COVID-19.
Because of a team outbreak — including a positive test for coach Paul Chryst — the Badgers' game Saturday against Nebraska will be canceled.
The team will suspend all activities for seven days, the university announced Wednesday. The Big Ten’s schedule does not allow room for makeup games, meaning Saturday’s game will not be rescheduled.
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As of Wednesday morning, 12 people within the football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous five days, according to a news release. Six players and six staff members tested positive with additional results pending.
Read more here. — Shannon Ryan
9:45 a.m.: Dr. Ngozi Ezike’s emotional moment shows health care workers feel COVID-19 fatigue too
At an Oct. 23 news conference, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike became emotional while talking about the nearly 10,000 lives lost in Illinois — “People who started with us in 2020 and who won’t be with us at the Thanksgiving table.”
Ezike paused and turned away from the camera as she wiped her tears and took some time to compose herself. She said she understands the emotional toll and knows how hard it is for everyone.
“I don’t get to live in some COVID-free bubble, exempt from all the pain and tragedy of this pandemic,” she said. “If you’re talking about COVID fatigue from having to keep wearing a mask, think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers, respiratory therapists, who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people’s lives,” she added.
This has been an extreme year for health care workers. They are not removed, Ezike said, from stressors others face in a challenging moment where “you can’t actually see the end.”
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Along with the stressors of parenting children who are remote learning and the near absence of friends and family, the past seven months have been a cycle of hypervigilance and fear for health care workers.
Data released Monday from the American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that many are feeling stress and burnout. Among the 862 emergency room physicians surveyed, 87% were more stressed now than since the start of the pandemic. Burnout causes included concerns about family, friends and personal health.
Read more here. — Alison Bowen
7:56 a.m.: Boeing will cut 11,000 more jobs as aircraft business slows
Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money and lose revenue during a pandemic that has smothered demand for new airline planes.
The Chicago-based company said Wednesday that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 employees by the end of next year, down 30,000 from the start of this year. That is far deeper than the 19,000 reduction that the company announced three months ago.
Boeing Co. updated its jobs plan on the same day it reported a $449 million loss for the third quarter, a swing from the $1.17 billion it earned in the same period last year. The loss was narrower than analysts expected, however.
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Revenue tumbled 29% to $14.14 billion.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:55 a.m.: 4 inmates have died from COVID-19 at East Moline Correctional Center, out of 29 in state prisons
Four inmates at the East Moline Correctional Center have died from COVID-19, all of them in October, according to authorities.The fourth death, a man in his 50s, was Monday, according to Lindsey Hess, public information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections.
As of Tuesday, 343 inmates and 33 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at the minimum-security prison, 100 Hillcrest Road, East Moline. Deaths are not being reported on the websites for the facility or IDOC.
Hess said no EMCC staff members had died.
There have been 29 inmate deaths from COVID-19 at Illinois prisons, according to Hess. Stateville Correctional Center, near Chicago, has had 13 inmates die; a man in his 50s was the first death on March 29. The next highest number of COVID-19 deaths has been at Robinson Correctional Center, where three of the five deaths were men in their 70s.
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Read more here. —Sarah Hayden, Quad City Times
6:45 a.m.: COVID-19 Restrictions go into effect in suburban Cook County, Metro East regions of state
By Wednesday, more than half of Illinois residents will be under stricter measures meant to slow a surge of the coronavirus as suburban Cook County and the Metro East region outside St. Louis join four other regions where the state has shut down indoor dining and bar service and lowered the cap on crowds to 25.
At the beginning of last week, only one of the 11 regions in the state’s reopening plan was subject to those rules.
By Friday of last week, suburban Cook County had had eight consecutive days of test positivity rate increases and seven days of increased hospital admissions. State figures Wednesday morning were only updated through Saturday.
It is the first region to surpass the state-set thresholds for those two metrics at the same time. The other region have triggered tougher rules by reaching an 8% positivity rate threshold for three consecutive days. As of Saturday, the rolling seven-day positivity rate for the Cook County suburbs was 8%.
Friday, Chicago will go under similar restrictions, as the city also has seen a recent surge. — Chicago Tribune staff
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6 a.m.: For special education families, an agonizing choice on returning to school: Risk COVID-19 exposure or accept ‘heartbreaking’ limits of remote learning
When Katherine Buitron’s son froze mid-sentence and collapsed on his Chromebook during a virtual class, some of his classmates were scared. Others seemed to think he just fell asleep, she said.
She moved her son and closed the Chromebook.
After the seizure, he had bad headaches and double vision. Subsequent doctor’s appointments took even more time away from classes. In addition to epilepsy, the fifth grader has autism and dyslexia, and is immunocompromised, Buitron said. His two siblings also are in special education programs, but none is in the first groups of students tapped by Chicago Public Schools to return to in-person learning.
The family has already decided they’d continue remote learning anyway, because of health concerns, but would have a hard time making an informed decision based on the sparse plans the district has presented.
“They expect parents to make choices without the full information,” Buitron said.
Even with the limited details, Deidra Kenar, another CPS parent whose children have individualized education programs, would love for them to return to school.
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“We feel like the longer and longer they are away,” she said, “the more and more challenges that are coming up for them.”
Although their families don’t yet have the option to send their children back to school before the end of the calendar year, for thousands of other CPS families with special education students, decision day is Wednesday.
Along with prekindergartners, about 5,000 students in moderate and intensive cluster programs have been identified as the first who could resume in-person learning. That includes those who attend specialty schools where most or all students are what CPS classifies as diverse learners.
Based on families' responses to opt-in forms due Wednesday, district officials will decide whether they can support in-person learning five days a week or use a hybrid model for specialty schools, CPS spokesman James Gherardi said.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone, Karen Ann Cullotta
6 a.m.: After their mom died from COVID-19, her kids give a final toast with a beloved, hard-to-find token of her youth: Tab diet pop
Kathleen Berger died in May from coronavirus-related causes, leaving behind eight kids and a legacy encapsulated by a bright pink soda pop can.
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Berger, who was 73, was a voracious consumer of Tab, the saccharin-infused cola known for its distinctive packaging, vaguely metallic taste and aerobic studio vibe. Introduced in 1963 by the Coca-Cola Co., it was once the nation’s dominant diet soda, producing a legion of fans so hard-core they called themselves Tabaholics.
But Tab lost its mojo over the decades, surpassed by Diet Coke and other carbonated descendants, and Coke finally dispatched the brand earlier this month with a eulogy of buzzwords (“We’re prioritizing bets that have scale potential across beverage categories, consumer need states and drinking occasions”).
The retirement led to hoarding that soon made Tab, which was already hard to find, as rare as a white truffle. As of Tuesday, the asking price on eBay for a single can went as high as $25.
Berger, whose Tabaholism was second to none, would have recoiled at such a markup. That left her children, who are spread from Seattle to Elmhurst to suburban Boston, with a challenge: locate enough Tab in the wild so they could give a final, video chat-enabled salute to their mother.
“We were all like, ‘All right, let’s go out and try to find some, and then we’ll do this toast to Mom,’” said her son, Matt Berger. “And then none of us could find it anywhere.”
Read more here. —John Keilman
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chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Critics call Gary Franchi’s YouTube channel, the Next News Network, a hive of conspiracy theories. S

Critics call Gary Franchi’s YouTube channel, the Next News Network, a hive of conspiracy theories. So how has it survived the platform’s conspiracy crackdown?

Franchi told the Tribune he has done nothing wrong .
He said the Next News Network , which he describes @ @ @ @ @ news , hews to YouTube ’ s shifting guidelines , and that he preemptively takes @ @ @ @ @ they might cross the line ( the Seal Team 6 video was one of them @ @

The Next News Network is a YouTube channel produced in Chicago’s western suburbs that pumps out a dozen or so aggressively partisan videos each day. They usually stick to praising President Donald Trump or attacking his critics, but every so often they wade into the dark waters of conspiracy theory.
In just the last few months, the channel’s owner and host, Gary Franchi, has showcased several baseless allegations, including a suggestion that antifa might be behind the Western wildfires, an osteopath’s insistence that the COVID-19 pandemic was “a false flag operation” and a claim that Democratic politicians had members of Seal Team 6 killed to cover up a dirty deal with Iran.
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Some of those videos got millions of views, helping the Next News Network grow to more than 1.8 million subscribers. SocialBlade, an analytics website, estimates its traffic could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, to say nothing of the revenue from bitcoin investments and survivalist supplies Franchi hawks during his programs.
The channel’s growth has continued even as YouTube has pledged to crack down on conspiracy theorists and misinformation. In October, the platform removed hundreds of channels associated with QAnon, the mushrooming movement that says Satan-worshipping pedophiles are scheming to take down Trump.
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Franchi, who said he is not part of QAnon, has drawn YouTube’s scrutiny as well. The company has suppressed recommendations of his videos, blocked advertising on some and removed others.
Gary Franchi, founder of Next News Network, appears Oct. 19, 2020, in a western suburb. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
One thing YouTube hasn’t done is kick Franchi off. And that staying power aggravates critics who say the giant video platform is putting profits ahead of social responsibility.
“I’m surprised honestly that he’s still standing,” said Angelo Carusone of Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group that frequently criticizes the channel. “Just based on what he’s done over the years, the high volume and frequency, I am genuinely surprised.”
Franchi told the Tribune he has done nothing wrong. He said the Next News Network, which he describes as a source of conservative news, hews to YouTube’s shifting guidelines, and that he preemptively takes down videos if he thinks they might cross the line (the Seal Team 6 video was one of them).
“YouTube has been great,” he said. “I love the platform. I love what we’re able to accomplish there. They have to make decisions, and we respect those decisions.”
Franchi’s resilience doesn’t surprise Hany Farid, a University of California at Berkeley computer science professor who studies YouTube’s response to conspiracy channels. He said for all the headlines about the crackdown, social media platforms put their financial interests first.
“At the end of the day, you’re pushing up against very powerful companies," he said. "My impression is they do just enough to get people off their backs, but their hearts aren’t into it.”
Conspiracy history
Franchi, 43, who appears onscreen in a jacket and tie with slicked-back hair, trendy glasses and a precisely trimmed beard, said he’s no conspiracy theorist — just someone who asks tough questions.
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“Sometimes people don’t like those questions asked,” he said. “So if they don’t like the topic or what direction you’re going, or if you draw a conclusion based on what you’ve learned, they like to try to label it if it doesn’t fit with their agenda.”
His critics scoff at that description — “This is a typical response from a conspiracy theorist,” said Dave Van Zandt of the Media Bias/Fact Check website, which lists the Next News Network as a questionable source — and Franchi’s history provides plenty of fodder for skepticism.
After attending Glenbrook South High School, he founded the Lone Lantern Society, a group that promoted the notion the U.S. government brought down the Twin Towers on Sept. 11. He helped make documentaries suggesting the Federal Emergency Management Agency was building camps to imprison dissidents.
And in “The Reality Report,” an early web show he produced in his basement, he dealt heavily in alleged conspiracies. Devin Hansen, who worked as Franchi’s technical assistant after answering a Craigslist ad, said he rolled his eyes at the subject matter.
“I was always pretty vocal with him about how silly I thought the conspiracy theories were, but he was really into them,” he said.
Franchi was also involved in the unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign of former congressman Ron Paul, who has been criticized for embracing conspiracy theories. Unhappy with Paul’s depiction in the media, Franchi said he started the Next News Network to support another contender.
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He rejected candidates like Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz as puppets of the New World Order — shorthand for a supposed plot to create a vast authoritarian regime. After initially portraying Donald Trump as a circus clown, Franchi wholeheartedly embraced him as a leader who would fight the globalists.
“Donald Trump is bucking the system,” Franchi said in a video as the election neared.
Uneasy relationship
The Next News Network grew quickly with Trump’s victory, but even before then Franchi had an uneasy relationship with YouTube. He appealed to his viewers for contributions after the platform shut off ads on hundreds of his videos for featuring what he called “controversial politics.”
YouTube demonetizes videos it determines are not advertiser-friendly, but that’s just one step in its regimen to police so-called borderline content. Another is to suppress those videos in the platform’s recommendation algorithm, a major source of traffic for most channels.
After critics accused YouTube of leading viewers down dangerous rabbit holes by recommending one conspiracy video after the next, the platform announced last year it would reduce the reach of those videos. Following the change, the Next News Network saw its recommendations disappear, according to an analysis by software engineer Mark Ledwich.
The YouTube app on an iPad in 2018. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
YouTube also removes videos that violate its community guidelines, which ban everything from hate speech to cyberbullying to COVID-19 misinformation. But a spokesman said the platform doesn’t forbid all conspiracy content — just that which targets individuals or groups and is linked to real-world violence.
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The spokesman also disputed the idea that YouTube profits from conspiracy videos, saying that by removing ads and squelching recommendations, the company doesn’t make any money from them.
But Carusone, of Media Matters, didn’t buy that. He pointed to Franchi’s April interview with the osteopath, who claimed without evidence that the pandemic was ginned up to spur mandatory vaccines and the implantation of computer chips. YouTube removed the video, but not before it had been viewed 7 million times.
“Everybody’s already made their money after a video racks up millions of views,” Carusone said.
For the most part, Franchi and his collaborators have kept on the right side of YouTube, which relies on viewers and artificial intelligence to flag potential violations.
After the takedown of the osteopath interview, which Franchi bemoaned at the time as “Orwellian censorship,” he removed hundreds of other videos he thought could pose problems, including those related to COVID-19 and vaccinations. Many remained, though, including one in which a fill-in host, Josh Bernstein, repeated the false claim that masks cause people to breathe their own CO2 and harm their immune systems.
The video stayed up well into October. Franchi said he took it down after breaking ties with Bernstein, who recently lost his own YouTube channels.
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A new path?
Despite the takedowns, ad blocks and exile from the recommendation list, the Next News Network continues to expand. Its subscriber base is approaching those of news channels run by Bloomberg and PBS, and with 100,000 new subscribers in the last 30 days, it’s growing faster.
Franchi defended his presence on YouTube as a matter of free speech — “Am I not entitled to my First Amendment position to present information?” — but said he was nervous about his future following the QAnon removals. He recently announced a service that will allow viewers to watch his content through streaming devices for $100 a year.
Some conspiracy theorists have endured after being evicted from YouTube, including Franchi’s longtime acquaintance Alex Jones, notorious for insisting the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax. Though Jones was booted off social media platforms in 2018, his website, InfoWars, still gets more than 10 million visits a month.
“People who are ideologically driven or financially driven, they don’t just slink away,” said Farid, the computer science professor. “They’re not just going to disappear. Of course they’re going to come back.”
But Carusone had a different conclusion. He said YouTube is a unique environment, and that Franchi’s influence would likely evaporate if he were banished.
“There is no path for him outside of YouTube right now,” he said. “There’s no path for a lot of creators. This is their ecosystem. There is no alternative.”
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jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--In the fight over reopening schools amid the pandemic, race and class divisions are stark

“ He typically presides over 10 to 12 funerals a year at his church in Cicero , but he estimates @ @ @ @ @ this year , it will be between 130 to 160 funerals , which hit me @ @ @ @ @ , knowing the devastation COVID has caused to this community , '' Esposito said .
@ @ @ @ @ to take a pause from reopening schools , because they are scared , and they @ @ @ @ @

When Barrington School District 220 began welcoming students back into the classroom in October, nearly 90% of children who attend Hough Street School in the heart of the village arrived for in-person instruction.
Heading west past the horse farms and rolling fields of Barrington Hills, the district’s Sunny Hill School in Carpentersville also reopened. But only about 1 in 4 families at Sunny Hill — where 90% of students are economically disadvantaged — allowed their children to return to the classroom.
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This tale of two schools — less than 8 miles apart, but a world away when it comes to parents' reactions to the coronavirus — began a rocky new chapter this week, as District 220 joined a growing list of suburban Chicago schools that are pausing in-person instruction due to the record high rate of COVID-19 cases.
Now, many parents, particularly from middle- and upper-income communities in the Chicago area, are again demanding a reopening of schools, saying their children are suffering from social isolation and academic regression they believe pose a greater danger than the virus itself.
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Parents and students rally in favor of in-person teaching ahead of an Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 board meeting. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Yet as parents in more affluent communities like Elmhurst, Lincolnshire and Libertyville organize rallies in support of open schools, fears that in-person classes will increase the risks of coronavirus exposure to students and staff — and, by extension, to their families — are only growing, especially in lower-income and more racially diverse communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
That all of this is playing out during an economic crisis and perhaps one the most polarized presidential elections in U.S. history has only escalated tensions.
Troubled by the disparate attitudes toward the virus, Dr. Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, observed that, “Everything has become a political debate, and a lot of more affluent individuals don’t believe in the science."
“Some of these parents believe kids don’t get very sick, and even if their kids get COVID, it would just be the sniffles,” Tan said. “But the opposite is true, and a certain subset of children can become very ill with long-term consequences.”
Tan said residents from low-income communities have had higher rates of contracting the virus for many reasons, including family members in the household who are more likely to be front-line workers providing essential services to the public.
Economically disadvantaged families may also find it impossible to social distance when a member of the family is ill with COVID, due to living in modest homes that are often shared by numerous relatives, Tan said.
“If you’re living in a 10,000-square-foot home, it’s easy to find a room for a family member who is sick, so they don’t infect the rest of the family,” Tan said. “But when you have a multi-generational family living under the same roof in a two-bedroom apartment, how do you social distance when someone is sick?”
In one suburban school system, Cicero District 99 — where the community’s COVID-19 rate has double digits in recent weeks — the teachers union is strongly opposing a request that teachers begin delivering remote lessons from empty classrooms in November. Rachel Esposito, president of the Cicero Council of the West Suburban Teachers Union, noted Friday that a large majority of families indicated support for remote learning in a district survey.
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The Cicero district enrolls around 11,000 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, about 92% from economically disadvantaged families and 96% who are Hispanic, according state data released Friday.
“There is a divide between families from affluent communities who have access to great health care, and those who don’t have the same access, which is the case for most of the families in Cicero," Esposito said.
While she said she was well aware that many local families have lost loved ones to COVID-19 in recent months, the dire situation was underscored by a recent conversation she had with a neighborhood priest.
“He typically presides over 10 to 12 funerals a year at his church in Cicero, but he estimates that by the end of this year, it will be between 130 to 160 funerals, which hit me like a ton of bricks, knowing the devastation COVID has caused to this community," Esposito said. “People in Cicero want to take a pause from reopening schools, because they are scared, and they are definitely suffering.”
District 99 Superintendent Rodolfo Hernandez on Friday cited the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the “current conditions” in noting that the school board has delayed the resumption of in-person learning “out of an abundance of caution,” despite having received “confirmation from the (Cook County Department of Public Health) that it was safe” to reopen schools to students. He said the decision to bring teachers back into buildings on Nov. 9 was made “after careful thought and deliberation" and in consultation with the union.
In Addison School District 4 — where nearly 60% of students are considered low-income and nearly 65% are Hispanic — children have been returning to school in stages over the last few weeks.
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And while the district is using a staggered schedule so that no more than a fifth of students are in the schools at one time, only about 40% of families have chosen to send their children back for in-person learning, the district confirmed.
Still, with Addison’s seven-day positivity rate hovering around 15% — and the DuPage County Health Department recommending that schools revert to remote learning because of “substantial community transmission” of COVID-19 — teachers rallied outside of a Board of Education meeting Wednesday seeking an immediate suspension of in-person learning.
“We need to do what’s safest for our students and our community. The medical experts at the DuPage County Health Department recommended school districts move to all remote learning. We should absolutely be following that advice,” Addison Teachers Association Co-President Allison Andrikokus said in a news release ahead of the rally.
Maria Sinkule, a social worker at Indian Trail Junior High School, rallies with Addison teachers union members against the resumption of in-person classes. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
District 4 Director of Communications Brendan Marshall said the district is “committed to ensuring a safe learning environment and a high-quality education.” He said schools are operating under public health safety guidelines and that officials are monitoring the situation “on a daily, hourly and case-by-case basis.”
Nearby in Oak Brook-based Butler Elementary District 53 — which has one elementary and one middle school, and just 1% of students are considered low-income — Superintendent Paul O’Malley said the percentage of students participating in full in-person learning has increased as of Wednesday to 77% from 62% at the start of the school year.
Indeed, the strong reactions to COVID-19 from more racially and ethnically diverse communities hit hard by the pandemic were evident in a national survey conducted by Consumer Reports in July. Fifty-seven percent of Black and 52% of Latino respondents said they preferred schools to remain closed with remote instruction, compared with just 25% of whites who were polled.
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Many suburban parents who have protested school closures say while families worried about COVID-19 should have the option of their kids continuing remote learning, they are far more concerned about their children’s emotional health and flagging academic progress than the virus.
“I’m much more worried about my son being stuck at home, taking classes on a computer in the basement, than in him getting COVID,” said Hawthorn Woods resident Christina George, whose 15-year-old son is a freshman at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, which has not reopened and is instructing 4,300 students with remote learning.
“I personally don’t feel afraid of COVID, because the fact remains that anytime you step foot out of the house, you assume some kind of risk,” said George, who has been among the leaders of the grassroots Stevenson Can Team, which touts the support of more than 500 students, parents, taxpayers and business leaders who want the option of a return to in-person learning.
George said the fact that residents living in affluent towns in Stevenson’s attendance area like Long Grove and Kildeer pay “incredibly high” property taxes — a $40,000 yearly tab is not unusual, she said — makes the high school’s remote learning especially galling.
The prospect of the high school reopening anytime soon dimmed when the Lake County Health Department issued a recommendation on Oct. 20 that all schools in the county shift to virtual learning because of growing COVID-19 infection rates.
“Is the virus itself political? No, but politics is playing into these decisions from our political leaders in some way, shape or form, and even after the election, it’s not going to just magically go away,” George said.
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In Park Ridge, a Facebook group of parents calling for a return to in-person learning has just over 800 members, with followers encouraged to “flood” school board members' inboxes and share links to articles they say support their belief that, if done safely, schools can and should reopen.
Even now, with rising COVID-19 rates both locally and statewide, the position of many parents does not appear to have changed, said Alexis Conway, one of the creators of the group.
“Based on the activity I’m seeing on our Facebook page, I would say there’s still a strong interest” in schools opening fully, Conway said.
With more than 93% of parents in Winnetka School District 36 signaling they wanted their children back in the classroom this fall, officials plan to spend up to $2.3 million — roughly $1,400 per student — on PPE this year to ensure the health and safety of students and staff.
Similarly, at New Trier High School, which District 36 feeds into, officials plan to spend up to $1.3 million to conduct COVID-19 saliva screenings for students and staff.
While District 36 officials have reported only eight cases of COVID-19 since the start of the school year, with the holidays approaching, Superintendent Trisha Kocanda sounded the alarm in recent days.
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In a video message to parents posted on the district’s website, Kocanda expressed her dismay upon learning that some students were sent to school despite family members awaiting the results of COVID-19 tests, which is strictly forbidden.
In addition, Kocanda said some students have reported that their parents did not inquire about their health, nor did they have their temperature taken before school — both of which are required daily to comply with the district’s CrisisGo tracker report system.
“We urge you, and I implore you, to be extra mindful and vigilant about the daily process that we all have to take part of to extend in-person learning as long as possible,” said Kocanda, who also urged families to avoid traveling or attending large gatherings.
Studies have found the impact of the COVID-19-era school closures will likely prove most detrimental to students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, where children do not have the same access to resources like tutors, technology and activities like travel soccer and violin lessons. Yet families on the front lines of the pandemic may view the reopening of schools as a risk not worth taking.
“When you think of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where basic survival and putting food on the table are most important, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if families from high-poverty communities are putting their kids' health and safety first when making decisions about school reopenings,” said Jon Schmidt, a clinical assistant professor in the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago.
“Yes, they want their kids back in school, and their kids need to be back in school for multiple reasons," Schmidt said. “But for many of these families, they have a visceral sense of what COVID means, because for them, this virus has been up close and personal."
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Pioneer Press reporters Jennifer Johnson and Chuck Fieldman contributed.
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Graduated-rate tax amendment rally gets sidetracked by Toni Preckwinkle pitch for Kim Foxx’s reelect

Graduated-rate tax amendment rally gets sidetracked by Toni Preckwinkle pitch for Kim Foxx’s reelection

“ I think the nature of the campaign that ’ s been waged against her is really a campaign against @ @ @ @ @ reforms we ’ ve been struggling so hard to enact — for people who want @ @ @ @ @ bad old days when the jail was often full of poor Black and brown people @ @ @ @ @ charges of nonviolent offenses and they just couldn ’ t pay their bail , ” @ @ @

An hourlong virtual rally in support of a proposed state constitutional amendment to change Illinois' income tax system to a graduated-rate tax was sidetracked Friday night by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle delivering a lengthy pitch for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s reelection and for voters to reject two judges up for retention.
The rally of high-profile Democrats and allies, hosted by the proposed amendment’s chief supporter and funding advocate, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also featured Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton alleging amendment opponents were billionaires fighting against “communities of color and women and working-class families all across the state.”
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The proposed amendment, the top item on the Nov. 3 election ballot, would allow for a switch from Illinois' current constitutionally mandated flat-rate income tax to a graduated rate with a tax that increases along with income.
Democrats backed placing the amendment on the ballot, and Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, has spent $58 million of his wealth behind the Vote Yes for Fairness group supporting its ratification — a tally that includes another $1.5 million reported late Friday. Republicans oppose the amendment, and Ken Griffin, the wealthy founder and CEO of the Citadel hedge fund and investment group, has spent $53.75 million to defeat it.
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Supporters contend a law approved that would take effect if the amendment is ratified would mean 97% of Illinoisans, those making $250,000 or less, would pay at least the same if not lower taxes than under the current 4.95% personal flat-rate tax. Opponents contend the amendment would lead to lawmakers cherry-picking tax rates in the future, particularly on higher incomes, jeopardizing business growth and jobs.
But pro-amendment discussion of the proposed amendment, dubbed the “fair tax” by supporters, gave way when Preckwinkle, the Cook County Democratic Party chair and a strong supporter of Foxx, made a lengthy pitch for her reelection during her six minutes of speaking time.
“Kim is in a tough race and really needs our support,” Preckwinkle said of the first-term state’s attorney, who has faced controversy over her handling of the office, most notably over her handling of the case of former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who allegedly faked a hate crime attack against himself in early 2019.
Foxx is being challenged by Republican former Cook County Judge Pat O’Brien. Preckwinkle said O’Brien was backed by “the folks who make apologies for the Burge era,” a reference to Jon Burge, the late disgraced former Chicago Police Department commander who, with his so-called midnight crew of rogue detectives, led the torture of criminal suspects for two decades, coercing dozens of confessions.
“I think the nature of the campaign that’s been waged against her is really a campaign against all of the criminal justice reforms we’ve been struggling so hard to enact — for people who want to go back to the bad old days when the jail was often full of poor Black and brown people who were often there on charges of nonviolent offenses and they just couldn’t pay their bail,” Preckwinkle said.
“It’s the folks who want to take us back to the bad old days who are opposing her candidacy. So we’re working hard for Kim, and I know she will win as well,” Preckwinkle said.
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Preckwinkle also urged a “no” vote on the retention of two Cook County judges that the party did not endorse — Mauricio Araujo and Michael Toomin.
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Toomin, the presiding judge of the juvenile justice division, received criticism for making it harder for juveniles seeking release from detention due to the pandemic. Toomin also appointed special prosecutor Dan Webb, who has criticized how Foxx’s office handled the Smollett case.
Foxx also appeared at the virtual rally but made little mention of her reelection bid in the four-and-a-half minutes she spoke. Instead, she said “we cannot separate this talk around the fair tax and fair funding to be able to provide the services and resources to our most vulnerable communities from the work that I do in the criminal justice space.”
“This isn’t about taking from one and giving to another in an unfair way. It’s pay your fair share,” Foxx said. “This is not a handout. This is a fair share.”
Preckwinkle wasn’t the only speaker to deviate from the subject. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth told viewers, “thank you so much for the incredible work you’re doing to pass the fair tax,” before urging support for Democrats across the ballot and blasting Republican President Donald Trump in her two-and-a-half minute speech.
Featuring advocates for the proposal that included representatives of organized labor, the virtual rally also featured Stratton, the first Black person to become lieutenant governor in Illinois. Stratton, in a previous pro-amendment video, warned that voter failure to enact the tax change could lead to a 20% hike in the personal income tax rate, taking it to 5.95% for everyone regardless of income.
Stratton said voter ratification of the tax would “ensure that all communities are given the opportunity to thrive.”
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“Here’s the bottom line: When you have billionaires spending millions of dollars trying to kill the fair tax amendment, that should tell you something. And what it tells me, they know this will benefit communities of color and women and working-class families all across the state,” Stratton said.
“So you know what we need to do, right? We need to give them a rude awakening by making sure that our votes and our voices carry more power than their dollars,” she said.
The anti-amendment Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment, heavily funded by Griffin, issued a statement and video before the pro-amendment rally.
Tony Duncan, a small-business owner featured in the group’s anti-amendment ads, said, “The same politicians in Springfield that got us into this mess are the same ones trying to hike our taxes now. We cannot trust them.”
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chicagotribune--2020-10-31--‘I need my eyes,’ says victim of paintball gun shooting who lost sight in one eye, as Chicago police

‘I need my eyes,’ says victim of paintball gun shooting who lost sight in one eye, as Chicago police arrest 6 in recent attacks

Cato said police were taking these attacks very seriously , after more than 125 people have been injured recently , @ @ @ @ @ did not name , and others who also had been shot in the face .

Six people were arrested, suspected of using paintball guns for shooting attacks, which have spiked recently citywide and have injured more than 125 people, including George Morales, who lost sight in his eye Thursday.
“Charges are pending” for the six, said police spokesman Tom Ahern. It was not clear with what they will be charged.
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Area 4 Deputy Chief Ernest Cato announced the arrests during a news conference Friday night at the 10th District police station, 3315 W. Ogden Ave.
Morales, 44, was standing at a bus stop at 24th Street and Pulaski Road on Thursday afternoon about 2:30 p.m. after dropping off his truck at the shop to have the engine worked on.
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“I turned around and saw a white car parked right in front of me. I saw two guys in the car,” Morales said, adding they looked to be in their early 30s. One pointed a long gun that looked like a real gun.
“I started running, but he saw my face,” Morales said. Then, the man started shooting at him and hit him in the left eye. “It was painful.”
Paramedics on the scene spotted green paint all over him and told Morales he’d been shot with a paintball.
Doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital advised him it was a "miracle'' that his right eye had not also been injured, said Morales, who was recovering at his Southwest Side home Friday night.
Morales, who fixes windows for a living, said it probably will affect his job. "I need my eyes.''
“This is crazy,” he said of the attack. “I’m blind in my left eye.”
Cato said police were taking these attacks very seriously, after more than 125 people have been injured recently, including Morales, whom he did not name, and others who also had been shot in the face.
“It’s actually a weapon,” Cato said of paintball guns. “We are treating this like they are shooting real bullets.”
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The arrests were the result of a “mission” by 10th District officers who “stayed focused” and used surveillance video and placed themselves where many of the attacks occurred to find the six, who are suspected of injuring seven people.
Dep. Chief Ernest Cato and 10th Dist. Cmdr. Gil Calderon @ChicagoCAPS10 announce seven paintball gun attacks within the last 24hrs. One victim lost an eye. 6 arrests / 7 victims /5 paintball guns recovered including ammunition. Area 4 Detectives are investigating. #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/J2oeZR9mzy — Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) October 31, 2020
Detectives are working together to try and link up the arrests to the recent attacks, which aren’t a “tradition,” Cato said, responding to a reporter’s question.
"This is not a tradition. It’s something that has increased.''
Cato did not immediately make clear a motive.
With Halloween on Saturday, Cato urged the community to contact police by using cpd.com if they see anyone with a paintball gun.
“Everyone, please have a safe Halloween, and we do take this seriously.''
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rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Kyle Rittenhouse cried, vomited and worried about social media as he told Antioch cops, ‘I shot two

Kyle Rittenhouse cried, vomited and worried about social media as he told Antioch cops, ‘I shot two white kids’

“ When they spoke the conversation turned into the family discussing the negative comments about Kyle on social media , @ @ @ @ @ upset , ” Nemec wrote .
“ I requested Kyle to stop speaking with his @ @ @ @ @ as this was causing him to become upset and again made him cry .
Kyle @ @ @ @ @ being on social media and then briefly showed me from his phone a picture of @ @ @ @ @ the Kenosha riots from earlier in the evening . ''

Kyle Rittenhouse cried, vomited and worried about negative social media comments after turning himself in to a far north suburban police department following the fatal shooting of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, according to newly released documents.
Rittenhouse, 17, and his mother appeared in the lobby of the Antioch police station around 1:20 a.m. Aug. 26, just hours after prosecutors say the teenager shot three men with an AR-15-style rifle, killing two of them. Police reports show Rittenhouse repeatedly acknowledged his role in the shooting during his conversations with officers, though he insisted he had been protecting himself.
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“I shot two white kids,” he told police, according to documents obtained late Friday under a Freedom of Information Act request that village officials initially denied.
The records offer the first detailed accounts of what transpired in the hours after the shootings in Kenosha, a lakeside town located about 10 miles from the Illinois border. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, died from the injuries they sustained that night.
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According to 17 pages of police reports, an emotional Rittenhouse told police he had been hired to protect a Kenosha business amid the unrest stemming from the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot multiple times in the back at close range days earlier. At some point during the night, Rittenhouse said, he tried stop an unnamed man from hitting windows and the man began to chase him.
The teen told officers that he had been hit in his lower neck and head with a baseball bat and a skateboard before firing his weapon, according to the police report. A filing by Kenosha prosecutors does not indicate that any of the victims were wielding a baseball bat when they were shot, though video taken that night does show Huber reaching for the rifle as a skateboard hits Rittenhouse’s shoulder.
Kyle Rittenhouse booking mug from Oct. 30, 2020, from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department. (Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department)
Antioch officers noted small scratches on Rittenhouse’s arms when he turned himself in, but he did not have any cuts or bruises, a police report states. Paramedics, however, were twice called to the police department to treat him.
“As I stayed with Kyle, I observed him exhibit several different emotions,” Antioch Officer Kourtney Nemec wrote in her report. “I observed Kyle to appear calm, then burst into crying fits, and then calm down again. Every once in a while, I observed Kyle to throw up. I noticed a pattern to his behavior for over an hour with him calming down, crying, calming down again and then throwing up."
The teen also had a tense exchange with his mother, Wendy, who was not convinced her son had killed anybody. Rittenhouse insisted he had “ended a man’s life.”
“He’s dead,” he said, according to a report by Sgt. Nicholas Garcia.
“Wendy then raised her voice and said ‘we don’t know that!'," the report states.
Video from the scene of the protests showed Rittenhouse apparently trying to surrender to police in Kenosha after the shootings, but they didn’t arrest him. Rittenhouse told Antioch officers that when he tried to speak with officers there after the shootings, he was told to go home.
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When he showed up at the suburban police station hours later, he was wearing the same jeans and tan-colored cowboy boots he had been wearing during the protests, according to the police reports.
While waiting for Kenosha detectives to arrive, Rittenhouse repeatedly asked to speak with his sisters and an 18-year-old friend who were back at the family’s apartment. The friend, who the Tribune is not naming because he has not been charged, was with Rittenhouse in Wisconsin and still had his gun, according to police reports.
Nemec allowed the teen to make the phone call, which quickly turned into a discussion about social media reaction to the shooting.
“When they spoke the conversation turned into the family discussing the negative comments about Kyle on social media, which caused Kyle to become upset,” Nemec wrote. “I requested Kyle to stop speaking with his sisters and (friend) as this was causing him to become upset and again made him cry. Kyle continued to talk about him being on social media and then briefly showed me from his phone a picture of him with the AR-rifle at the Kenosha riots from earlier in the evening."
Police confiscated Rittenhouse’s assault weapon from the friend’s trunk a short time later, along with another AR-15 rifle the friend said he carried that night in Kenosha, according to reports. The friend told police that he had not witnessed the shooting, but Rittenhouse called him immediately afterward, and he had driven the teen back across the Illinois state line.
The friend later was questioned by Kenosha detectives at the Antioch police station, where he said he bought the weapon for Rittenhouse earlier this year so the two could hunt together, according to the reports. The friend told police he purchased the gun in his name at a hardware store in northern Wisconsin, but Rittenhouse paid for it.
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The friend kept Rittenhouse’s rifle at his stepfather’s house in Kenosha, and the two picked it up before heading to protests, according to the reports. The friend told police that he wished he would have stopped Rittenhouse from taking the gun that night, records show.
“(The friend) thought in his head he could have stopped it, but he knew if he would have told Kyle ‘no’, he (Rittenhouse) would have thrown a fit,” the police report said.
The reports indicate the friend also worried the he could be held responsible for the shootings.
“(The friend) stated after the shooting he spoke with Kyle and told Kyle that he (the friend) believed he (the friend) was going to be in more trouble than Kyle,” the records said. "He told Kyle that he (Rittenhouse) was defending himself and said he told Kyle, ‘In all reality, you are not supposed to have the gun. That gun was in my name.’”
Antioch police later interviewed the friend’s stepfather, who begrudgingly had allowed the rifle to be stored at his house. He told police he did not approve of his stepson purchasing the gun for Rittenhouse, who was a minor, and so he kept it in a locked safe in his garage.
After Blake’s shooting by police, the man said he moved the gun into his basement for his own “personal protection.”
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The man said he went to work Aug. 25 ― the day of the Kenosha protest shootings ― and his stepson called. His stepson said he and Rittenhouse had been hired by a downtown business to perform security, and he needed to borrow sandpaper for graffiti removal.
The friend’s stepfather said he did not realize the rifle was missing from his home until Aug. 26, as he was preparing to leave town for a week due to the demonstrations, according to the police report.
Authorities have said Rittenhouse will not face gun charges in Illinois because the Smith & Wesson AR-15 .223 caliber rifle “was purchased, stored and used in Wisconsin” and they turned up no evidence the 17-year-old “physically possessed” the weapon here. Neither Rittenhouse nor his mother possess the firearm owner’s identification cards required to keep a gun in Illinois, according to the police reports.
Rittenhouse’s case has become a cause célèbre for gun rights advocates and militia groups throughout the country since his arrest in late August. In laying the groundwork for a self-defense argument, the teen’s attorneys have painted him as a young patriot who wanted to protect the community and the victim of political conspiracy.
In court records filed before his extradition hearing Friday, Rittenhouse’s attorney indicated that his mother could testify about the circumstances surrounding his arrest in their bid to keep the teenager from being sent to Wisconsin to face murder charges. However, she never took the stand and, after dry legal arguments, a Lake County judge ordered he be extradited.
A high school dropout with a deep interest in law enforcement, Rittenhouse lives with his mother and sisters in a modest Antioch apartment complex located about 20 minutes from Kenosha. His attorneys say he went to Kenosha after his lifeguarding shift Aug. 25 to help remove graffiti drawn during the ongoing unrest and later responded to a local business owner’s request for help protecting his establishment.
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Armed with an assault rifle, Rittenhouse walked up and down the downtown streets with little pushback from local police. At one point, officers in an armored vehicle tossed bottles of water to Rittenhouse and other armed civilians. Though the people were clearly violating the city’s 8 p.m. curfew and Rittenhouse is too young to openly carry a firearm in Wisconsin, the officer expressed his gratitude for the group.
“We appreciate you guys,” the officer said. “We really do.”
In an interview with the Daily Caller that night, Rittenhouse refers to his presence as his “job” and explains his self-appointed responsibilities in policelike vernacular.
“People are getting injured and our job is to protect this business,” Rittenhouse says in the 19-second clip. “And part of my job also is to protect people. If someone is hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle; I’ve gotta protect myself obviously."
With his mother present in the interview room, Kenosha detectives questioned Rittenhouse in Antioch for roughly four hours, stopping once for a coffee break and a second time because the teen had trouble breathing, according to police reports.
Antioch police took him into custody around 8 a.m. on a fugitive warrant and took him to a juvenile detention center in Lake County. He remained there until his extradition back to Wisconsin on Friday afternoon.


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Biden falls behind Trump in Iowa: Track the race for president in key battleground states

Meanwhile , Biden holds a 5-point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania , according to the final Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll @ @ @ @ @ drew support from 49 % of likely state voters , while 44 % support Trump @ @ @ @ @ a particular candidate were included .
That ’ s marginally tighter than last week , @ @ @ @ @ Biden leading Trump 51 % to 44 % , but consistent with Muhlenberg ’ s @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden had a 49 % to 45 % edge over Trump in an August @ @

Bill Ruthhart, Chad Yoder, Jonathon Berlin

Going into Tuesday’s voting, the list of battleground states that President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden were fighting for was a long 13. By the end of the night, that list had shrunk to a half-dozen.
By Wednesday morning, all eyes were on three familiar battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Propelled by the late counting of votes from Democratic strongholds, Biden had taken a lead in Michigan and Wisconsin by late morning Wednesday, while Trump remained in front in Pennsylvania with hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding.
Regardless of where those states land, the margin in the race to 270 Electoral College votes promises to be thin. Here is a look at results in hand so far from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as some of the other battlegrounds that have been projected already or are closer to projection.
Also included here are final FiveThirtyEight polling averages for those states — polling that, as in 2016, proved to underestimate Trump’s sway with voters.
Those polls had Biden up 8.2 points nationally, for example. In key Midwest states, Biden led Minnesota by 9.3, Wisconsin by 8.2 and Michigan by 8 points. Trump won states where he was leading — Iowa, Texas and Ohio.
State by state


chicagotribune--2020-10-31--Campaign trail tracker: Where Trump, Biden and their running mates have traveled in presidential rac

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

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

In the final sprint ahead of the Nov. 3 election, both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have ramped up their campaign travel despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Starting in September, Biden abandoned his monthslong virtual campaign from his basement in Delaware while Trump has accelerated his travel and is once again welcoming crowds at some events.
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Here’s a look at the campaign trail stops made by Trump, Biden and running mates since Sept. 1.
Campaign trail tracker
Tap or click on a dot to see details of the stop.
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