chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Daywatch: COVID-19 now third-leading cause of death in Illinois, Madigan confidant indicted and new

Daywatch: COVID-19 now third-leading cause of death in Illinois, Madigan confidant indicted and new restaurant offers free takeout

Marisa Massey of Elmwood Park grimaces as Dr. Kyle Ross gives her a rapid COVID-19 test in the parking lot @ @ @ @ @ Nov. 18 , 2020 , in River Forest .
Event Medical Solutions is conducting the @ @ @ @ @ to get results within one or two hours .

Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, Illinois officials reported 8,922 newly diagnosed and probable coronavirus cases, the first time the daily statewide case tally has dipped below 10,000 since Nov. 5. Officials also reported 140 more deaths.
Meanwhile, with Thanksgiving only a week away, are you wondering how to navigate this holiday season? We put together a guide for the holidays in Chicago. Here’s how to plan for travel, staying home, food, entertainment and gifts.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Marisa Massey of Elmwood Park grimaces as Dr. Kyle Ross gives her a rapid COVID-19 test in the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church on Nov. 18, 2020, in River Forest. Event Medical Solutions is conducting the testing, which allows people to get results within one or two hours. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll since the pandemic began topped 11,000 on Wednesday, and the disease is now the third-leading cause of death in the state, behind heart disease and cancer, according to state public health officials.
The 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 reported Wednesday pushed the total to 11,014, already meeting a projection state public health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike gave in late October when she said the state was “on a path to see more than 11,000 COVID deaths in Illinois this year.”
Lobbyist Mike McClain talks outside House Speaker Michael Madigan's office at the State Capitol in Springfield in 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
One of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s oldest and most trusted confidants was among four people charged Wednesday with orchestrating an elaborate bribery scheme with utility giant Commonwealth Edison that allegedly funneled money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, seen at her election-night headquarters in St. Charles, Ill., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Two weeks after Election Day and with the counting of ballots completed, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood formally declared victory Wednesday night over Republican challenger Jim Oberweis in the west and north suburban and exurban 14th Congressional District.
In this Nov. 10, 2019, file photo, Florida State forward Patrick Williams brings the ball up against Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Williams was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA draft Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. (Matt Stamey/AP)
The Chicago Bulls selected Florida State forward Patrick Williams with the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft Wednesday.
Williams, who turned 19 in August and is one of the youngest players in the draft, had skyrocketed up draft boards in recent weeks as teams started to fall in love with the versatile 6-foot-8 wing.
Sarah Kaleta, left, helps a customer with her takeout order at Community Canteen, a new pay-it-forward restaurant within Kimski in Bridgeport, on Nov. 17, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
As Chicago restaurants brace themselves for the imminent winter, leaning into takeout and delivery or simply closing until spring, operators at Kimski have made a different seasonal shift. Within the Bridgeport restaurant, a new effort called Community Canteen has launched, offering delivery and takeout meals for free — a relief effort driven by the coronavirus’ economic toll.


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Dad hopeful after 5-year-old son shot while sitting in living room: ‘He’s able to move his hands a l

Dad hopeful after 5-year-old son shot while sitting in living room: ‘He’s able to move his hands a little.’

Clareon was going to begin kindergarten this year but had to pause because of the pandemic .
On Monday night @ @ @ @ @ to his father on the couch , watching while Williams was on an iPad .

A bullet hole is seen in the front window of a house in the 200 block of West 115th Street on Nov. 17, 2020, in Chicago's West Roseland neighborhood where a 5-year-old boy was shot. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Clarence Williams sat at his son’s bedside in Comer Children’s Hospital Wednesday evening, holding on to a few encouraging signs that his 5-year-old son will be OK after a bullet smashed through their living room window and hit the boy in the head.
Doctors have told Williams that the boy’s brain was “grazed” and they were able to stop the bleeding. Clareon has been mostly sleeping but has been able to squeeze his dad’s hand.
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“They want his brain to rest,” said Williams, 40. “Once the swelling goes down, there’s a little hope. … He’s doing better. He’s hanging on.”
Clareon was going to begin kindergarten this year but had to pause because of the pandemic. On Monday night, he was sitting next to his father on the couch, watching while Williams was on an iPad.
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“We were sitting on the couch. I was on my iPad. He loves iPads too. Someone fired through the window,” Williams said.
A neighbor told police she heard half a dozen shots, then loud screams as she ran out of her apartment and tried to open the door across the hall. But it was locked.
Frantic, she said she kicked in the door and saw the boy’s mother holding the 5-year-old as he lay on the floor, bleeding from his head.
Clareon was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure to his brain. “It grazed the side of his brain.
“They stopped the bleeding, they got the bullet out,’' Williams said. “He’s able to move his hands a little, but doctors don’t want him to get too piped up.”
It may be a week or more until the boy is able to do much, Williams said.
He said relatives have been bringing all his favorite toys to his hospital room to cheer him up: Superman, Spiderman and Captain America.
“He likes all types of super men,” Williams said. “He’s my baby. His smile. His smile is so beautiful. That boy is so happy. He loves to smile. I’m just praying to God that he pulls through.’'
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The shooting happened about 7:25 p.m. Monday when a gunman opened fire from an SUV driving by the yellow brick four-flat where Williams said his family has been living for five years.
It was unclear who the target was, but video released by police shows the SUV circling the block several times before a gunman in dark clothes crawls out of the front passenger window and opens fire across the roof.
The gunman starts to get back in, but leans out again and fires some more, according to the video.
Immediate family members were the only ones home at the time, police said, and there were no gatherings nearby when the gunman opened fire.
No arrests have been reported. “We’re attempting to locate any witnesses that may be able to assist as well as reviewing security camera video,” said department spokesman Tom Ahern.
Williams said he has no idea who would do this. “I’m not in a gang. I have no enemies. I’m 40 years old. I have five grandchildren.”
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He said other children were in the home, including his 20-year-old daughter’s newborn. “All of us were in the house. Imagine if it was the baby.’'
Anyone with information was urged to contact Area 2 detectives at 312-747-8271.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Column: Pandemic hoarding isn’t the same as regular hoarding, is it?

Also , I recently agreed to let my nephew and his wife come to Chicago with a van once the @ @ @ @ @ out my closets .
They ’ re going to take everything I haven ’ t @ @ @ @ @ those 5-inch heels , and sell them on Poshmark .
( Believe it or not @ @ @ @ @ style . )

I have learned a lot about myself during the coronavirus pandemic, as many of you probably have as well.
While stuck at home for weeks, I played around in the kitchen and found that I could make a pretty decent chicken noodle soup using all fresh ingredients. It will be a staple in my home during this next phase of the pandemic.
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I also realized that I’m a hoarder.
I don’t think I’m as bad as the people you see on TV clinging onto a coat hanger because they fear they might need it someday. I consider myself a situational hoarder. The pandemic made me do it.
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Like most people, I was unprepared when COVID-19 took over our lives last March. Nobody warned us that it was coming, so we had no idea what we would be up against.
Who knew that it would be nearly impossible to find hand sanitizer, toilet tissue and disinfectant?
But this time, there was plenty of warning. Health experts began telling us even before the first round of the coronavirus was done that a second phase would follow in the fall. And, coupled with the flu season, it could be worse than the first.
When I heard about this dark winter approaching, I took heed. That’s when my dark side emerged. I set out on a mission to stock up on as much Lysol spray, Clorox wipes and Purell hand sanitizer I could get my hands on.
The mission began about four months ago when I received a flyer in the mail from Costco advertising 12-roll packs of Bounty paper towels and 30-count Charmin toilet paper. After months, the products finally were back in stock — and on sale.
I’ve always been particular about the brand of paper products I use. Softness and thickness are important to me. But by the time I got to the store, they had run out. They offered me a deal on their store brand paper towels, and I jumped at it.
I left with 24 rolls of paper towels — the store limit. I returned the next day and bought 24 more.
I don’t have enough room in my condo for 48 rolls of paper towels or the 60 rolls of toilet paper or the 72 bottles of water I had delivered. So I turned a spare bedroom into a storage closet.
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It looks like a well-stocked mini mart, filled with everything you need during a pandemic.
But I’m not selfish. I’m going to pack goody bags to send to friends and family members for Christmas. (I hope they won’t read this and spoil the surprise.)
My brother and sister-in-law run a children’s day care in Georgia. They will get a couple of bottles of the 32-ounce Germ-X hand sanitizers I snagged off Amazon, but I’m keeping the four bottles of “hard-to-find” Purell I stumbled upon at Walgreens.
They’ll also get a box of disposable face masks, shoe covers and latex gloves. I have at least four boxes of each on hand.
Having gone through the previous surge of the pandemic, I am now well aware of the kinds of things that get off the shelves quickly. Dishwashing detergent is one of them. This time, I’ve got two 75-fluid-ounce jugs of Dawn under my kitchen sink.
A couple of weeks ago, I happened to stop by a little Walgreens store in Streeterville and, to my surprise, they had just received a supply of Clorox disinfecting wipes. There was no limit, so I grabbed six of them. It felt as though I’d hit the lottery.
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While I have plenty of disposable masks, I also ordered a few cloth ones for when I feel like dressing up. I love Johnny Was clothing, but the designer outfits are way too expensive for me. Their masks, however, fit my budget. I ordered a pack of five floral masks for $25, plus a three-pack of matching no-touch key chains for another $25.
They’ll make excellent Christmas gifts.
I’m sitting pretty right now. I have way more than I need to get me through the next three months or so. But I’m not all that happy about it. Little did I realize how thin the line is between hoarding and simply being prepared.
I have always had a small tendency to hoard. I’ve still got unopened boxes from the time I moved from Chicago to Atlanta in 1998 and back to Chicago in 2009 stacked in the storage locker in the basement of my building.
I thought I was making progress, though. Earlier this year, I called the Salvation Army to pick up loads of stuff. I got rid of the bread maker I’d never used as well as the rotisserie cooker and the accessories I’d never taken out of the box.
I gave away the skinny jeans I’ve not been able to fit into for more than 30 years and the Victor Costa satin evening gown that I wore one time to a fraternity dance in the 1980s.
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Also, I recently agreed to let my nephew and his wife come to Chicago with a van once the pandemic is over and clean out my closets. They’re going to take everything I haven’t worn in decades, including those 5-inch heels, and sell them on Poshmark. (Believe it or not, they are still in style.)
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
The pandemic has brought out the worst of me — but there’s still hope.
My refrigerator gave out a couple of weeks ago, and my freezer was well stocked with groceries. Instead of throwing it all away, which would have been a lot easier, I packed everything up and gave it to a needy family.
It reminded me of how much we sometimes take our good fortune for granted. I’m lucky to be able to stock up with as much toilet tissue as I can find. But I must never forget that lots of people don’t have enough food, even in the best of times.
So I’ve come up with another idea. I’m not only going to give out goody bags to my family this year for Christmas, I’m going to pack up rolls of toilet tissues, paper towels and hand sanitizer, and donate them to needy families.
Hoarding isn’t really hoarding when it goes to a good cause.
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dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 8,922 new COVID-19 cases and 140 more fatalities reported as state

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 8,922 new COVID-19 cases and 140 more fatalities reported as state passes grim milestone of 11,000 deaths; Lightfoot to launch new testing site at Midway

How is this possible ?
Are Eleanor and her friends hitting the road ?
No .
What McGowan Tracy has @ @ @ @ @ filmed version of last year ’ s show — recorded at the Greenhouse Theater Center @ @ @ @ @ package to sell this year .
The idea is that product-starved arts centers can then @ @ @ @ @ attraction as , in essence , one of their own creations .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ Tracy gets to sell her show all across the country , the pandemic-stricken arts centers @ @ @ @ @ box office without incurring many expenses , and the actors and crew get paid all @ @ @ @ @ need the cash .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, click here for Thursday’s live blog.
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll topped 11,000 on Wednesday, already meeting a projection the state’s top public health official recently gave for the entire year.
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Officials reported 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the state-reported death toll to 11,014 over the course of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 8,922 newly diagnosed and probable coronavirus cases, the first time the daily statewide case tally has dipped below 10,000 since Nov. 5. That sent the statewide known and probable case count past 600,000, with 606,771 cases reported throughout the course of the pandemic.
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On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced he is imposing new restrictions in Illinois, limiting capacity at retail shops and shutting down casinos, museums and other indoor entertainment venues.
The targeted restrictions are part of the state’s latest effort to slow the surging coronavirus.
Just ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year, retailers will be under a 25% capacity limit, down from the current 50%. A 50% capacity limit will remain for grocery stores, but big-box chains such as Walmart and Target that include groceries will be subject to the lower limit.
[ New coronavirus restrictions: What will be open, closed, different in Illinois starting Friday ]
In addition to putting restrictions on a variety of industries, Pritzker is pleading with the public to avoid unnecessary gatherings, particularly next week for Thanksgiving.
“This is not a stay-at-home order,” he said. “But the best way for us to avoid a stay-at-home order is to stay home.”
The new measures do not affect schools, and decisions will continue to be left up to local districts. Chicago Public Schools Tuesday announced that it will continue to provide classes through remote learning until after the winter break, but then plans to begin bringing students back on Jan. 11.
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:54 p.m.: As grades and attendance slip, CPS places hopes on schools reopening, citing risk of ‘losing an entire generation of students’
With hard return dates for elementary school students contingent upon the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Public Schools officials are challenged by how to improve on poor attendance rates they saw during the remote fall quarter.
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“The consequences here are not theoretical,” said Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade. “Research tells us that if we do not act with urgency, we will be in danger of losing an entire generation of students. It is often said that access to health care should be a fundamental right of all people. Well, the same holds true for a high-quality education.”
During Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting, McDade presented data on attendance and grades for fall quarter, which ended the first week of November. Read more here. — Hannah Leone
5:51 p.m.: COVID-19 now third leading cause of death in Illinois, officials say, as toll surpasses 11,000
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll since the pandemic began topped 11,000 on Wednesday, and the disease is now the third-leading cause of death in the state, behind heart disease and cancer, according to state public health officials.
The 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19 reported Wednesday pushed the total to 11,014, already meeting a projection state public health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike gave in late October when she said the state was “on a path to see more than 11,000 COVID deaths in Illinois this year.” Read more here. — Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
4:36 p.m.: A surge in COVID-19 cases has Chicago retailers facing new restrictions, just as holiday shopping season hits
Retailers were starting to see shoppers return to stores this fall. Now, a surge in COVID-19 cases has brought new restrictions, just as Chicago-area stores were gearing up for the busiest shopping season of the year.
Starting Friday, Illinois retailers and malls will be limited to 25% of their usual capacity, down from 50%. Grocery stores and pharmacies will be able to operate at half capacity, but big box chains selling some grocery and pharmacy items will also face the tighter limits.
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The changes follow stay-at-home advisories announced last week in Chicago and Cook County urging residents to voluntarily remain home as much as possible, which some small business owners worry could become mandatory. Read more here. — Lauren Zumbach and Robert Channick
4:30 p.m.: Warren Township High School District officials skeptical in-person classes will resume Jan. 5; ‘We want to follow the data as it is’
With COVID-19 cases on the rise throughout Illinois, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker announcing the state will be moving back to its Tier 3 mitigation plan, Warren Township High School District 121 still tentatively plans to welcome students back for in-person classes for the second semester on Jan. 5.
However, Superintendent John Ahlgrim and members of the Board of Education suggested this week that chances of that happening are highly unlikely.
”There’s a lot of districts that have already announced that they’re not even going to attempt the two weeks after winter break, just with traveling and then having to quarantine upon return,” board member Tony DeMonte said at the virtually held regular board meeting on Tuesday. “Is (Jan. 5) even realistic? Or is it two weeks from there that’s the more realistic date?”
The meeting was held the same day that Pritzker announced the new mitigation plan, which limits the amount of people that can be in retail spaces, health and fitness centers, offices, bars and restaurants. Read the full story. — Erin Yarnall, Lake County News-Sun
4:27 p.m.: Aurora surpasses 10,000 COVID-19 cases, 150 deaths
Aurora this week surpassed 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and 150 related deaths since the pandemic started, new city data shows.
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In the wake of those rising numbers, Mayor Richard Irvin made an emotional plea Tuesday night for residents to take the virus seriously. Read more here. — Steve Lord and Sarah Freishtat, Aurora Beacon-News
3:18 p.m.: Overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, hospitals start converting chapels, cafeterias, parking garages: ‘We’re in trouble’
Overwhelmed hospitals are converting chapels, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hallways, even a parking garage into patient treatment areas. Staff members are desperately calling around to other medical centers in search of open beds. Fatigue and frustration are setting in among front-line workers.
Conditions inside the nation’s hospitals are deteriorating by the day as the coronavirus rages across the U.S. at an unrelenting pace.
“We are depressed, disheartened and tired to the bone,” said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, adding that she drives to and from work some days in tears.
The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 in the U.S. has doubled in the past month and set new records every day this week. As of Tuesday, more than 76,000 were hospitalized with the virus.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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1:30 p.m.: Mental health issues more likely to affect communities of color during the holidays: ‘This is the time where people can bottom out’
Public stressors created by the pandemic often worsen for people in the communities most impacted, said Dr. Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson, instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Data has shown that people of color for example are more likely to get the coronavirus.
“When we look at this year, racial trauma is a compound stressor,” she said. “You have multiple different stressors in terms of the pandemic that disproportionately affects these communities already at greater risk.”
Multigenerational family households are also more common in Black and Hispanic communities, she said. The pandemic adds pressure in families with members at high risk, creating different levels of burden.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett and Jessica Villagomez
1:15 p.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot to launch new COVID-19 testing site at Midway Airport
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will launch a new COVID-19 testing site at Midway Airport as part of the city’s effort to fight the ongoing surge of coronavirus cases.
The city also will be moving a testing site at Dr. Jorge Prieto Math and Science Academy on the Northwest Side to Charles A. Prosser Career Academy. Lightfoot also will work with Curative, a testing company, to provide materials to make it easier to do testing during cold weather.
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The city’s current 7-day rolling average is 2,351, up from 1,853 a week ago. The number of tests administered has gone up to 16,259 from a 7-day rolling average of 14,795.
The city has awarded $14 million in grants to community groups to expand testing and contact tracing, and the city has provided 40,000 rapid tests to community health centers, officials said.
Lightfoot’s testing site at Midway will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., officials said. Other testing sites will remain open at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Gately Park.
“Chicago is setting new testing records every day and it is our highest priority to ensure that testing remains equitably accessible and available to Chicago’s most vulnerable residents,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “We will continue to work with partners and direct resources to the communities who have been hit the hardest by this pandemic.”
—Gregory Pratt
1:13 p.m.: Illinois surpasses 11,000 COVID-19 deaths as officials report another 140 fatalities and 8,922 newly confirmed and probable cases
Illinois' COVID-19 death toll topped 11,000 on Wednesday, already meeting a projection the state’s top public health official recently gave for the entire year.
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Officials reported 140 additional deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the state-reported death toll to 11,014 over the course of the pandemic.
On Oct. 26, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the state was “on a path to see more than 11,000 COVID deaths in Illinois this year.”
Officials also reported 8,922 newly diagnosed and probable coronavirus cases, the first time the daily statewide case tally has dipped below 10,000 since Nov. 5. That sent the statewide known and probable case count past 600,000, with 606,771 cases reported throughout the course of the pandemic.
The new and probable cases reported Wednesday come from a batch of 103,569 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 11.9% for the period ending Tuesday, a slight decline from a day earlier.
The state public health department reported a 12.5% positivity rate on both Monday and Tuesday. The rate surpassed 13% late week after climbing steadily for weeks. A month ago, the statewide positivity rate for cases was 5.3%, and it was 8% as of Nov. 1.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to rise. As of Tuesday night, 5,953 people across the state were in the hospital with the illness, with 1,146 in intensive care units and 547 on ventilators.
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—Jamie Munks
11:17 a.m.: Naperville council tells city staff to draft rules making face masks mandatory
A citywide face mask mandate could be in the hands of the Naperville City Council for review as soon as Dec. 1.
Mayor Steve Chirico on Tuesday asked the council if they would consider requiring masks as a means of tamping down the rising number of coronavirus cases.
Council members directed City Attorney Michael DiSanto to gather documentation to be presented at the Dec. 1 meeting on regulations that could be drafted requiring all residents and visitors in Naperville to wear a mask in public.
Chirico said local COVID-19 numbers are staggering, and if face-covering regulations will help reduce it, he’s all for it.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
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8:33 a.m.: Not again: Toilet paper limits, empty shelves return as COVID-19 surges
Looking for toilet paper? Good luck.
A surge of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is sending people back to stores to stockpile again, leaving shelves bare and forcing retailers to put limits on purchases.
Walmart said Tuesday it’s having trouble keeping up with demand for cleaning supplies in some stores. Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:54 a.m.: Chicago holds online classes to remind businesses, workers about job protections for those with COVID-19
Chicago’s Office of Labor Standards was set to hold online classes Wednesday and Thursday about job protections for people who stay home from work because of having COVID-19, according to the mayor’s office.
The city’s Anti-Retaliation Ordinance and coronavirus-related public health orders, city residents are required to stay home from work if they have COVID-19 or symptoms of the disease, according to a news release. Employers are barred from “firing, demoting or retaliating in any way against” a worker for being absent from work because of having the coronavirus.
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Wednesday and Thursday’s online classes will explain employers' responsibilities and workers' rights under the city’s regulations. The classes are being offered in Spanish and English, and are set for 10 a.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. Thursday.
To sign up for the classes or learn more, check the city’s website: chicago.gov/laborstandards
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine 95% effective, will seek approval for emergency use from FDA
Pfizer says that more interim results from its ongoing coronavirus vaccine study suggest the shots are 95% effective and that the vaccine protects older people most at risk of dying from COVID-19.
The announcement, just a week after Pfizer first revealed promising preliminary results, comes as the company is preparing within days to formally ask U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of the vaccine.
Pfizer initially had estimated its vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, was more than 90% effective after 94 infections had been counted. With Wednesday’s announcement, the company now has accumulated 170 infections in the study — and said only eight of them occurred in volunteers who got the actual vaccine rather than a dummy shot. One of those eight developed severe disease, the company said.
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The company has not yet released detailed data on its study, and results have not been analyzed by independent experts.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:30 a.m.: The same holiday show will stream in Chicago, Kansas and Montana — a pandemic-era lesson from Trader Joe’s?
In 2019, a Chicago producer and live-event specialist named Denise McGowan Tracy staged a self-authored holiday show at the Greenhouse Theater Center. The kid-centered production, “Eleanor’s Merry Christmas Wish — The Musical,” played in a theater seating 175 people. It struggled to compete with many other long-established holiday shows in Chicago. The holiday season traditionally is very lucrative but it’s also highly competitive.
For this year, “Eleanor” has returned and expanded her reach. Big time.
She is also on the 2020 holiday docket at the McCain Auditorium in Manhattan, Kan., the Mother Lode Theatre in Butte, Mont., the Appell Center in York, Penn., the Weill Center in Sheboygan, Wisc., and many other locales from Texas to Maine.
How is this possible? Are Eleanor and her friends hitting the road? No. What McGowan Tracy has done is to take a filmed version of last year’s show — recorded at the Greenhouse Theater Center — and created an online package to sell this year. The idea is that product-starved arts centers can then offer their subscribers this holiday attraction as, in essence, one of their own creations. It’s a win-win-win in that McGowan Tracy gets to sell her show all across the country, the pandemic-stricken arts centers get a cut of the box office without incurring many expenses, and the actors and crew get paid all over again just when they need the cash.
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Read more here. — Chris Jones
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
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chicagotribune--2020-11-19--‘They knew exactly who they were shooting at’: 1 dead, 3 critically wounded on West Side

About a half-hour later , another 29-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were standing on the northwest corner of Roosevelt @ @ @ @ @ near a liquor store , about 4:30 p.m. when a westbound silver car pulled up @ @ @ @ @ front ” of them , and at least two gunmen exited and started firing , @ @ @ @ @ Cato told reporters at the scene .

Evidence markers are placed next to bullet casings at the scene of a multiple shooting at a convenience store in the 3000 block of West Roosevelt Road on Nov. 18, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
A woman has died and three men, including one of the assailants, were critically wounded Wednesday evening in separate shootings a half-hour apart on the city’s West Side.
Earlier, police said the people shot were considered “victims’' who were shot in a single “targeted” attack in the 3000 block of West Roosevelt Road.
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About 4 p.m. in the 400 block South Hamlin Avenue, 21-year-old Catrice Ware and a 29-year-old man were in a vehicle traveling south on Independence Boulevard when a dark-colored car pulled up and somebody inside shot them both, Chicago police said.
Ware, who was shot in the abdomen and leg, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital at 4:45 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, while the 29-year-old man, shot in the right leg, was also taken to Mount Sinai, where his condition had stabilized.
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About a half an hour later, another 29-year-old man was standing with a group of people on the northwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Whipple Street, outside a liquor store, when a westbound silver car pulled up, “stopped right in front” of them, and three gunmen exited and started firing — hitting the 29-year-old in the abdomen, police said.
Two of the gunmen then ran into the liquor store and continued shooting — one of them accidentally shooting his 32-year-old accomplice — police said. The other shooter dragged him from the liquor store and helped get him back into the silver car and they fled to Mount Sinai, where they dropped off the 32-year-old man, police said.
“It appears to be targeted,” Area 4 Deputy Chief Ernest Cato told reporters at the scene of the Roosevelt Road attack. “They knew exactly who they were shooting at.”
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--With vote counting completed, Rep. Lauren Underwood declares victory. But Jim Oberweis wants a recou

With vote counting completed, Rep. Lauren Underwood declares victory. But Jim Oberweis wants a recount.

“ This was a historic election : more than 400,000 members of our community cast votes in this race .
@ @ @ @ @ you to our elections officials for ensuring that every voter was able to safely participate @ @ @ @ @ democracy is precious , and it requires participation .
”

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, seen at her election-night headquarters in St. Charles, Ill., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Two weeks after Election Day and with the counting of ballots completed, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood formally declared victory Wednesday night over Republican challenger Jim Oberweis in the west and north suburban and exurban 14th Congressional District.
But Oberweis, a state senator from Sugar Grove, said through a spokesman that he would be seeking a discovery recount of selected precincts throughout the district, which includes parts of seven counties.
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Underwood’s declaration came as the final count of election authorities in the district on Tuesday showed her lead had grown to 5,342 votes from nearly 401,000 ballots cast. Last Thursday, The Associated Press called the race for Underwood as her lead grew to a 4,604-vote advantage with some mail-in ballots yet to be counted.
The final unofficial totals showed Underwood with 203,125 votes, or 50.67%, to Oberweis with 197,783 votes, or 49.33%.
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“The votes have been counted and the voters have spoken — I’m proud to have earned reelection,” the first-term Underwood, 34, of Naperville, said in a statement.
“This was a historic election: more than 400,000 members of our community cast votes in this race. I want to say thank you to our elections officials for ensuring that every voter was able to safely participate in this election. Our democracy is precious, and it requires participation.”
Underwood said she was “grateful to every voter for making their voice heard and am honored to continue representing our community during this critical time.”
The day after the election, based on early results that showed him ahead, Oberweis claimed victory. But after mail-in vote results found him trailing, the 74-year-old dairy magnate and financial investor said he would seek a recount.
If results from a discovery recount differ, the result of the election would not automatically change, but the recount could be used as the basis for an election challenge in court.
Underwood defeated three-term GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren of Plano in 2018 by 5 percentage points, or about 15,000 votes. The 14th District and the suburban 6th District, won by Democrat Sean Casten of Downers Grove, marked a blue suburban wave that took congressional seats from Republicans. Casten also won reelection.
The district, once a Republican bastion, includes parts of DuPage, Kane, Lake, Will, McHenry, DeKalb and Kendall counties.
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--Daywatch: Madigan’s grip on House in doubt, Lake Michigan’s beaches are vanishing and how to celebra

Daywatch: Madigan’s grip on House in doubt, Lake Michigan’s beaches are vanishing and how to celebrate the holidays Chicago-style

As part of the series “ Great Lakes , High Stakes , ” the Tribune visited and reported from each @ @ @ @ @ the environmental issues and how coastal communities are adapting to a warming world .
Along @ @ @ @ @ searching for new ways to stop the erosion of its sandy shoreline .
Those solutions @ @ @ @ @ we interact with the lake .

Good morning, Chicago. Illinois health officials on Thursday reported 14,612 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, a huge spike from Wednesday and the second-highest daily count. Meanwhile, officials reported 168 coronavirus-related deaths, the most in a single day since the height of the disease’s spring surge in mid-May.
Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s new coronavirus restrictions take effect today. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Listen to the Tribune | 2020 Election results | Experts answer your COVID questions | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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House Speaker Michael Madigan listens to a debate on the House floor in 2019. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, long undisputed in his role as Illinois’ most powerful politician, now finds his leadership hanging on the precipice as the state faces one of the most tumultuous periods in its history.
A day after his closest political ally was indicted in a bribery and influence-buying scheme involving Commonwealth Edison, Madigan on Thursday saw eight more of his rank-and-file House members pledge not to reelect him when lawmakers reconvene in January.
Election workers in Fulton County during a recount of ballots in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)
A top Georgia election official said Thursday that a hand tally of ballots cast in the presidential race has been completed, and that the results affirm Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow lead over Republican President Donald Trump.
A new seawall protects the Big Sable Point Lighthouse at Ludington State Park in Ludington, Michigan, on Sept. 30, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Increased precipitation, rising temperatures and human development across the Great Lakes basin have changed Lake Michigan and the lives of the millions who live, work and play along the coast in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
As part of the series “Great Lakes, High Stakes,” the Tribune visited and reported from each of the lakes, exploring the environmental issues and how coastal communities are adapting to a warming world. Along Lake Michigan, communities are searching for new ways to stop the erosion of its sandy shoreline. Those solutions could forever alter the way we interact with the lake.
The story of ‘Michigan’s Pompeii’: How the small town of Singapore was forgotten beneath the sand
The bar and dining area at Longman & Eagle in the Logan Square neighborhood on Nov. 16, 2020. “We could have continued to try to struggle through the winter, losing money on a monthly basis, or to keep the cash we have on hand and reopen when there’s a better opportunity to succeed,” said Peter Toalson, one of the owners. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
A growing list of Chicago restaurants are deciding to sit out this winter. Despite early talk of wild experiments to stay open through the coldest months of the year — dining igloos, fire pits, outdoor heated beer gardens and investment in to-go operations — the costs and mechanics of operating through a winter of COVID-19 is giving plenty of restaurant operators unusually cold feet.
Stephen Moellering wears a Christmas tree hat while strolling around the Christkindlmarket in Chicago's Daley Plaza on Dec. 6, 2013. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
What will happen to all the classic Chicago holiday experiences this year? Lunch at the Walnut Room, Christkindlmarket, ice skating, shopping on State Street, the lights festival on Michigan Avenue, the wreathing of the Art Institute lions, the Christmas tree in Millennium Park. Here’s what we know so far.


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--The story of ‘Michigan’s Pompeii’: How the small town of Singapore was forgotten beneath the sand

A lighthouse was also built at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in 1837 and 1838 , and served to @ @ @ @ @ area .
But the flow of the river drifted to the north , undercutting the @ @ @ @ @ to topple over around 1859 , according to the book “ The Early History of @ @ @ @ @ 1830-1840 , ” written by Charles J. Lorenz .

A new house emerges where the Michigan village of Singapore was, Sept. 29, 2020. Singapore is a ghost town at Lake Michigan on the Kalamazoo River near Saugatuck. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Saugatuck, Michigan — The rolling dunes on the northern bank of the Kalamazoo River near Lake Michigan hold a secret.
A small town once stood on the riverbank, where the river bends before ending its journey at the lake. For several decades in the mid-1800s, the village of Singapore was a humming lumber and shipbuilding hub. Residents and sawmill workers processed the plentiful white pine trees of western Michigan, then loaded them onto schooners for Chicago and Milwaukee.
The founders of Singapore had big dreams. They envisioned their town, then located north of present-day Saugatuck on the southwestern Michigan shore, as the next important Midwestern city, rivaling the growing metropolises in Illinois and Wisconsin.
A housing development site at Singapore on Sept. 29, 2020. Singapore was a 19th century town at Lake Michigan on the Kalamazoo River near Saugatuck, Michigan, that has been buried beneath sand. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
But nature, and economic forces, had other plans.
After the lumber trade waned and a series of fires roared through the area, leading to the destruction of many of Singapore’s houses, the town was abandoned. By 1875, according to Eric Gollannek, executive director of the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society, the lumber boom was over, the mills were dismantled and moved to St. Ignace, Michigan, jobs dried up and the village slowly disappeared.
Eventually, what was left of Singapore was buried beneath the sand.
“Michigan’s Pompeii,” Gollannek said. “It’s really compelling.”
This series received financial support from the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines initiative.
As southwest Michigan’s current coastal residents cope with near-historic lake levels and erosion concerns, the story of Singapore is a reminder of the power of nature and how human development can accelerate those forces. In the 19th century, it was fires and deforestation that led to Singapore’s downfall, allowing the sandy dunes to reclaim the land. Today, the forces of climate change, from rising temperatures, fluctuating lake levels and bluff erosion, form the backdrop for shoreline life along Lake Michigan’s coast.
Visitors who venture to the southern section of Saugatuck Dunes State Park, or catch a ride on a boat down the Kalamazoo, will find no sign of the lost town. The site is now mostly dunes and trees, though one housing development is in its infancy and another is proposed, the source of much controversy to locals.
What’s left beneath the sand remains a mystery, Gollannek and others who have written about the site report. Over the years, depending on water levels at the lake, a few old docks and building foundations have been exposed.
Except for a small sign aside one of the dunes near the private housing development, obscured by dune grass, that reads “Singapore located here,” there is no sign that the area was once a small town with a booming lumber trade.
Today’s landscape is a far cry from what the area looked like from the late 1830s through the 1870s. In addition to three or four mills, dozens of houses and the ship docks, Singapore had a school, several saloons and a hotel, said Michelle Church, a doctoral student at Michigan State University who is writing her thesis about Singapore.
A lighthouse was also built at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in 1837 and 1838, and served to illuminate the lake in the area. But the flow of the river drifted to the north, undercutting the lighthouse foundation and causing it to topple over around 1859, according to the book “The Early History of Saugatuck and Singapore, Michigan 1830-1840,” written by Charles J. Lorenz.
At its peak, as many as 300 people lived in Singapore. Church pinpoints the town’s life span as 1837 through 1875.
A sailboat passes by a new development on the site of Singapore, a former town at Lake Michigan on the Kalamazoo River near Saugatuck, Michigan, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“The town was gone, so there was nothing left to save,” Church said. “There was nothing to stop the blowing sand. The natural resources were depleted and that is what caused the whole town being buried by the sand dune.”
Singapore, despite its founders’ big ideas, never incorporated as a town.
With no trees and vegetation to anchor the dunes, Church said, the sand “moved in and moved in pretty quickly.”
When Church tells family and friends what she’s working on, she said they cannot believe it.
“They actually can’t believe,” Church said, “there is a town buried under a sand dune.”
poconnell@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--Lake Michigan is known for its sandy shores. But surging water levels have left officials scrambling

Lake Michigan is known for its sandy shores. But surging water levels have left officials scrambling for new ways to protect them.

As more precipitation falls on the upper Midwest and temperatures continue to rise , communities all around Lake Michigan have @ @ @ @ @ how to deal with a changing climate and an altered lakeshore .
On the western @ @ @ @ @ have begun to slip into the lake because of eroding coastal dunes , leading homeowners @ @ @ @ @ build waterfront barriers or move altogether .
Last winter , a home in Muskegon County @ @ @ @ @ In Chicago , city and federal officials have battled lakefront flooding with boulders and trail @ @ @ @ @ in Wisconsin , homes , piers and sewer systems need reinforcements from an encroaching lake @

Ludington, Michigan — As the wind whipped across the top of the Big Sable Point lighthouse, one of the most famous and beloved on the Great Lakes, Jim Gallie pointed to the disappearing beach: “It’s been progressively getting worse.”
Every few seconds, a wave slammed into the breakwall protecting the base of the lighthouse, sending a silver splash high into the air, much to the delight of the photographers and young families there to take in the sights.
Hikers and beachcombers who trekked along the shoreline to the remote, historic lighthouse at Ludington State Park once had ample room between the pulsating waves and the metal breakwall.
Now the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is spending $130,000 to recap the seawall and place new stone barriers at its base. The hope is that the reinforcements will slow erosion, save the beach, protect the base of the lighthouse and preserve the low-lying dunes.
Visitors stand near crashing Lake Michigan waves at the Big Sable Point Lighthouse at Ludington State Park in Ludington, Michigan, on Sept. 30, 2020. A new seawall was put in place to protect the historic, still-active lighthouse. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
“If it wasn’t for that seawall,” said Gallie, the park manager in Ludington, “those dunes would be gone.”
This series received financial support from the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines initiative.
From 112 feet above the beach on the deck of the 1867 lighthouse, the effects of a changing climate and a lake near historically high levels are clear: Increased precipitation, rising temperatures and human development across the Great Lakes basin have changed Lake Michigan and the lives of the millions who live, work and play along the coast in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
“It’s a system that’s really been whipsawed in many ways by a variety of factors, from climate change to non-native species, to the legacy of contaminants,” said J. Val Klump, dean and professor at the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
As part of the series “Great Lakes, High Stakes,” the Tribune visited and reported from each of the lakes, exploring the environmental issues and how coastal communities are adapting to a warming world.
While Illinois is home to one of the most intensely engineered coastlines across the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan still has the sandiest shores and therefore draws the most visitors, experts say. Michigan alone has 275,000 acres of sand dune formations, the vast majority of which are on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The third largest Great Lake by surface area (second by volume) is an eclectic mix of dune bluffs, sandy beaches, rugged rocks, major Midwestern cities, tourist towns and marshlands. But it is also emblematic of the myriad issues facing all of the Great Lakes as the climate continues to change. Surging water levels have collapsed bluffs, swamped coastal dune lands, erased beaches and damaged homes, businesses, docks, trails, campgrounds and sewer systems.
Residents and officials are scrambling to find new solutions as stone barriers and beach replenishment are often too costly and ineffective over the long-term.
In Illinois, environmental officials, engineers and scientists are experimenting with offshore reefs and shoals with the idea of blunting the force of storm surges before they eat away at the sand, dunes and marshland habitats. Meanwhile in Chicago, residents have dealt with submerged beaches and waterlogged trails as officials pour millions into shoreline protections.
In Wisconsin, cities and towns up and down the coast are spending millions on projects such as stormwater sewer upgrades and pier stabilization. In Indiana, shoreline protection has been contentious, including a federal lawsuit filed by residents and officials of Ogden Dunes who claim dunes, roads and private homes are “in danger of total destruction” if current protections fail.
Jim Gallie, park manager at Ludington State Park, looks down from the Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan. It was built in 1867. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Back at Big Sable Point, the landscape looks a lot different today than it did several years ago. The water, and the wind, have been eroding so much of the near dunes, Gallie said, that rangers and visitors have been uncovering a trove of treasures once buried.
A picnic table believed to be from Wisconsin “suddenly emerged from a dune that was eroding,” Gallie said. More troubling, an abandoned Dow Chemical pipeline buried near the shore also became exposed.
“I didn’t see it changing so drastically in such a short period of time,” said Gallie, who has worked at the park for a decade. “I expected to just be managing sand, cleaning the parking lots, cleaning the paths. But I didn’t expect the water levels to be way up like they’ve been.”
Controlled retreat
As more precipitation falls on the upper Midwest and temperatures continue to rise, communities all around Lake Michigan have been hunting for solutions for how to deal with a changing climate and an altered lakeshore. On the western shores of Michigan, houses have begun to slip into the lake because of eroding coastal dunes, leading homeowners to stabilize their structures, build waterfront barriers or move altogether. Last winter, a home in Muskegon County tumbled into the lake. In Chicago, city and federal officials have battled lakefront flooding with boulders and trail repairs. To the north in Wisconsin, homes, piers and sewer systems need reinforcements from an encroaching lake.
In Orchard Beach State Park, north of Manistee, Michigan, park officials are planning to relocate the historic pavilion building that overlooks the lake because of the danger of erosion.
Doug Barry, unit supervisor at the park, described moving the entire structure, a massive 400-ton limestone building with a concrete foundation, two fireplaces, a picnic area and a protected hall, as “controlled retreat.”
Officials are planning to move Orchard Beach State Park’s 400-ton limestone pavilion at Manistee, Michigan. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and opened in the 1940s, and is now in danger due to an eroding bluff. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
The shoreline at the park has been losing 6 inches of soil per year, Barry said.
“There’s a lot of different erosion going on,” Barry said. “Wind, rainfall, the waves.”
With the 70-foot bluff eroding at a rapid rate, Barry and the park staff had a difficult decision to make regarding the historic pavilion with sweeping lake vistas that hosts weddings, picnics and parties. Ultimately, Barry said they decided to completely relocate the building, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and opened in the 1940s.
Barry said DNR officials and consultants considered shoreline stabilization, including 5-ton boulders, but ultimately believed those were not only going to change the character of the beach, the park’s most popular attraction, but provide only brief relief.
“It’s a temporary fix,” Barry said, pointing to the beach and the bluff from the stairs that lead down to the lake, its entrance closed off for the year because high water levels have made it unsafe. “Lake Michigan is going to win.”
Barry saw an episode of “This Old House” in which crews relocated a house, and he began to explore the idea of moving the pavilion. While the process has taken three years of planning and the approval of federal and state agencies, he said, it “provides a long-term solution.”
“What’s the alternative?” Barry asked. “Let history fall into the lake? We’d still have to clean it up.”
Creative solutions
The movement of sand, and its effects on the shoreline and the underwater environment, is the focus of offshore projects at Illinois Beach State Park in Zion and the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve in Lake County, north of Chicago.
There, a consortium of agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, private researchers and the Lake County Forest Preserves, is working to install a series of offshore reefs and underwater natural breakwalls. The goal is to protect the shoreline, including the popular beaches at the state park, but also study whether reducing the flow of sand, sediment and crashing waves along the shore will alter the character of the lake itself, the nearshore habitat, the beaches and the unique marshlands beyond.
The underwater reefs in Lake Michigan are being installed at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve in Lake Forest on Nov. 12, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
The Army Corps, working with the Lake County Forest Preserve District and other local partners, has nearly finished a large-scale project at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve in Lake Forest.
The project is focused on coastal restoration and underwater habitat improvement. Out in the water, the underwater reefs, made of large limestone blocks, tree roots, small cobblestones and sand, may end up having two benefits: improving the aquatic habitat for fish and state-threatened mudpuppies while also protecting the shoreline and the nearshore lakeshore bed, said Jim Anderson, director of natural resources for the Lake County Forest Preserve District.
“We’re really hoping for them to break the power of the waves a little so when they hit the shoreline, they’re not as destructive,” Anderson said.
The reefs, constructed parallel to the shore about 100 to 300 feet out, were designed so that when the lake levels subside, they will still be underwater.
On land, preservation work on 1.5 miles of coastal bluffs, dunes and beach has involved the eradication of invasive plant species and seeding the soil, dunes and ravines with native plants.
“A lot of these areas suffered from development that depleted habitat,” said Nicole Toth, project manager with the Army Corps' Chicago District. “The goal of the project is to bring that back, to improve the habitat and to get these areas into more of a natural state.”
The project, authorized under the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration program, costs an estimated $14 million, shared between the federal government, the Lake County Forest Preserve District, Openlands, the city of Lake Forest and Lake Forest Open Lands Association. Most of the federal share, about $9.1 million, was funded with Great Lakes Restoration and Initiative funds received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Army Corps’ Chicago District has been working on more than a dozen similar projects, mostly in urban areas along Illinois’ North Shore.
A few miles to the north, scientists are studying how the lake is interacting with the shore and exploring nature-based solutions to help protect the beach and the nearshore habitats; blunt the force of the waves, especially in record-high levels; and slow the movement of sediment and sand.
Jack Cox, a coastal engineer with Edgewater Resources who is a scientific consultant for lakeshore projects, including at Illinois Beach State Park, has been studying how waves act and react to the lake bed and the shore. Cox is using a giant physical model of the Lake Michigan coast at a facility in Wallingford, England. Cox and others built a model — so large you can enter it with waders — of the shoreline so they could see how waves form, react as they crash into the shore and affect the movement of sand.
But waves, even if people cannot see them from the shore, are also busy churning under the surface, scouring the lake bed when the water becomes shallow near the shore and carrying sand along with it.
Weather patterns have pushed sand and sediment southward for years. But as people built more harbors, piers, docks, breakwaters and paved over sections of the shoreline, sand has become trapped along the way by all of these structures, Cox said.
“Sand wants to move in one direction or the other,” Cox said. “All the sand or sediment wants to move south toward Gary. If we had never settled all of this, Gary, Indiana, would be the world’s greatest beach.”
Cox said it can be helpful to imagine a zigzag pattern, where a wave comes in at an angle toward the shore, recedes, then zags back to land. At developed sections of the lake, with hardened landscapes of structures like Chicago, the waves bounce back more forcefully and can scour more powerfully.
At Illinois Beach, where there is 5 to 6 miles of natural shoreline, the goal of offshore, underwater barriers is to slow the scouring and the damage that waves can do to the beach and the unique marshlands beyond.
“And we want this to be as natural or as invisible as it can be,” Cox said.
The ideas range from underwater reefs, like to the south at Fort Sheridan, to offshore islands to underwater breakwaters. Success, Cox said, is a project that holds the shoreline so it does not retreat any farther. It may also have the added benefit of protecting onshore bird habitats and nesting grounds, and underwater fish habitats.
“It may be even able to cause a beach to be self-healing,” Cox said.
Lake vs. humans
In some communities like Saugatuck, Michigan, and the North Shore in Illinois, homeowners have put up their own barriers of boulders or breakwalls to hold back the lake. But officials are increasingly opposed to this piecemeal approach because it merely pushes erosion problems to neighboring properties or blocks public access to the lake.
With cotton clouds hanging low in the sky, whitecaps churned toward the shore of Oval Beach near Saugatuck, the southwestern Michigan town popular with many Chicagoans. The beach attracts tourists, walkers and bodysurfers to the white sand and sandy bluffs covered in dune grass.
Surfers Michael Christensen, left, and daughter Julia walk near a pile of boulders used for construction of a seawall in front of a new house near Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Here, the tug between nature and human protection efforts is on full display. To the south of the public beach, dozens of expensive homes have prime lakefront property. As the lake rises and the waves do their work, the beaches and bluffs have been eroding, forcing some homeowners to seek remedies such as seawalls or stone barriers.
At the spot where the public land ends and private property begins, a sign was staked into the ground with a notice from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, permitting 213 feet of large stones “to protect against lakeshore erosion.”
A steady stream of visitors gawked, some shaking their heads, and took photos of the sign and the giant boulders at the water’s edge.
Among them was Kathleen Johnson, a retired teacher who has lived in Saugatuck for 40 years.
“It looks terrible,” Johnson said. "It’s brutal. It changes the way the lake reacts.”
The new structures and breakwalls also prevent people from being able to walk along the beach, since Michigan law allows the public to access the lakeshore as long as they are right along the water’s edge.
Johnson’s beach-walking route has been altered by seawalls and stabilization efforts.
“That’s impossible now,” she said.
Kathleen Johnson, a retired teacher who has lived in Saugatuck for 40 years, at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
To the north, on the other side of the Kalamazoo River, a battle is ongoing over the future of land near Saugatuck Dunes State Park. Developers are eager to build homes and a marina on the riverbank, at a protected inlet not far from the lake. Others aren’t keen on the idea, including David Swan, president of the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance.
“The only thing wrong with Saugatuck Dunes State Park: It’s too small,” Swan said.
The coronavirus pandemic, he said, has only underscored the benefits of outdoors parks and preserves, as people search for safe places for exercise, fresh air and space away from other people.
“Our public lands are being threatened up to the line by proposed development,” Swan said. “We need these natural areas more than ever.”
An uncertain future
At an Environmental Law and Policy Center virtual event in early September, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged that high lake levels, shoreline flooding and access to clean water are continual challenges for city officials as they look to a more sustainable future.
Lightfoot said the city needs to rethink how it approaches the lakefront, work with federal partners to secure funding for projects and make sure residents understand the dangers and risks of shoreline flooding.
A damaged section of Chicago's Lakefront Trail at South Lake Shore Drive and East Hyde Park Boulevard on Jan. 14, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Millions of dollars have been spent and allocated for beach repair, revetment work and shoreline protections along the city’s lakefront, from Juneway, Howard and Rogers beaches in the north to Promontory Point near Hyde Park and the shoreline to the south.
A group of Great Lakes mayors has estimated that in the last year alone, high water, flooding and erosion has caused $500 million worth of damage in cities throughout the region.
In January, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a state disaster proclamation for Cook and Lake counties that helped municipalities apply for federal funding.
Lake Michigan set a monthly high mean record for each month in 2020 from January through August. The lake was nearly 3 feet higher than usual for early summer, and levels came close to reaching the all-time high, recorded in October 1986, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains the official records. This fall, lake levels have fallen, and the Army Corps forecasts that they will remain flat or drop until the spring, when levels typically rise during the thaw.
However, in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s winter forecast for the Great Lakes, there is an increased chance for above-normal precipitation and snow accumulation. If that occurs, it increases the chances for more runoff and flooding. NOAA also notes that the potential for more ice on the lake later in the winter, caused by colder than normal temperatures, may result in less evaporation from surface water, keeping lake levels high. When you combine those factors, Lake Michigan may be on the path to high lake levels again next year.
Last year was the second-wettest year on record in the United States, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Chicago was pelted by 49.54 inches of precipitation, which ranks as the third wettest year on record and more than 12 inches greater than normal, according to the National Weather Service. Since Illinois meteorologists began collecting precipitation records in 1871, four of the top five wettest years in Chicago have occurred in the last decade.
Air temperatures are also on the rise. Last year was the second warmest year since records began to be collected in 1880, NOAA reported. The warmest was 2016, aided by El Nino events. Rising temperatures and increased precipitation are linked, scientists said.
Out of balance
As climate change contributes to the warming of Lake Michigan’s more shallow waters, scientists across the Midwest are studying how changes in air and water temperature are altering the water, aquatic life and the proliferation of invasive species.
Joel Petersen, a fourth-generation commercial fisherman and captain of the “Joy,” which uses Fishtown, the historic and functional fishing village in Leland, Michigan, as its home port, said invasive species like the quagga mussel have upset the bottom food chain, altering the fish species at the higher end. With tiny snails and shrimp populations dwindling, he said, chubs have vanished and whitefish are scarce.
Fishermen Darryl Herman, left, and Dryden Schade process a catch at Carlson's Fishery at Fishtown in Leland, Michigan, on Oct. 1, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
“With the food web all screwed up, it takes the whitefish a lot longer to grow,” Petersen said. “It’s been decimated from top to bottom. The whole thing’s out of balance.”
University of Minnesota researchers Tedy Ozersky and Sergei Katsev have been studying the effect of the quagga mussels on the biology and chemistry of the lake.
What they have found is that the quagga mussels, an aquatic mollusk native to Ukraine that arrived in ballast water from transoceanic vessels in the early 1990s, have outcompeted zebra mussels — which two decades ago were the more prolific invasive mussel — in the deep, offshore regions of the lake bottom.
Their impact stretches beyond changing the bottom of the food web. Their proliferation has filtered the water and changed the chemistry of the sediment. When the researchers lowered a camera into the water, they were surprised at not just how many mussels they saw, but also how active they were.
“It looked like they were having a party,” Ozersky said.
South Haven, Michigan, homeowner Mike Sands and Leland commercial fisherman talk about the rising waters of Lake Michigan. (Chicago Tribune)
The invasives, he said, can filter 200 meters of lake in a matter of days, pulling the nutrients from the water, stealing them from other creatures that need them to survive.
For Petersen, the upending of that underwater interdependence has had a direct connection to how many fish he is able to catch. Peterson once caught 250 pounds of fish in the waters surrounding the Manitou islands, to the west of Leland. Now, it’s down to about 30 pounds a week.
“We don’t get very many,” he said.
The fish Petersen does catch he sells to Carlson’s Fishery, the popular shop in Fishtown. On an early fall weekday, the coronavirus a constant worry, the shop still had a line out the door during lunchtime.
Petersen is not sure how much longer he will be able to make a living out on the lake.
“You don’t want to stop,” he said. “But there might be a time when you have to. You never know what next year might look like.”
History endures
The recent high water levels also have ravaged Fishtown, where on a recent blustery day people bundled up in windbreakers and sweatshirts still flocked to the village on the fingertip Leelanau Peninsula. In bad weather, storm surges cause short-term flooding, swamping the wooden shanties, shops, pier, docks and walkway along the Leland River near where it empties into the lake.
The Fishtown Preservation Society has been working to raise the buildings and docks, many of which have been around since the early 20th century. The cost of all of the work will be at least $500,000, said Amanda Holmes, the society’s executive director.
“We keep having to add new projects,” Holmes said.
Amanda Holmes, executive director of the Fishtown Preservation Society, looks at shanties being raised in Leland, Michigan, on Oct. 1, 2020. The Fishtown Preservation Society is a nonprofit that is working to save this historic enclave of 19th-century Lake Michigan shanties. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
But while high lake levels and river flooding have led to changes, Fishtown’s unique northern Michigan location is part of its appeal.
“It can be so mesmerizing to be in a place where you are able to be one with the weather,” Holmes said.
The effort, and cost, is worth it, Holmes said. The society receives donations from people in 46 states, and many of those who stroll the docks and check out the shops at Fishtown are repeat visitors from across the Midwest. One of the recent catchphrases is “Save Our Shanties.”
“This is a place,” Holmes said, “that people have loved for a very long time."
The challenge, she said, is to protect the buildings while maintaining and preserving their character.
“You just endure,” Holmes said.
poconnell@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--Column: How to enjoy Thanksgiving alone. How to help someone who’s alone enjoy it.

The problem this year , of course , isn ’ t that too many dining tables will be full .
@ @ @ @ @ ’ ll be nearly empty , as people who made plans to gather make the @ @ @ @ @ In 2020 , making room at the table means something different , which is why @ @ @ @ @ came up with its tips .

Zooming with someone over Thanksgiving dessert is one tip from Make Room @ The Table. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Let’s get one thing out of the way right away: Not everyone who lives alone is lonely. Not everyone who will spend Thanksgiving alone will mind the solitude. Solitude can bring serenity. Family gathering can be torture.
But it’s safe to guess that in this time of pandemic, with its enforced isolation and family separation, more people than ever will be alone on Thanksgiving, and a lot of them would appreciate some human connection.
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So today a few tips on how to make that happen, courtesy of a Chicago area group called Make Room @ The Table.
The group’s name sprang from a conversation Marcia Slater Johnston had shortly after her husband died a few years ago. She ran into a friend who asked how her Thanksgiving had been. She replied that she’d spent it alone.
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“I know I should have invited you,” she recalls the friend replying, “but there was no room for you at our dining room table.”
The problem this year, of course, isn’t that too many dining tables will be full. It’s that they’ll be nearly empty, as people who made plans to gather make the responsible decision not to. In 2020, making room at the table means something different, which is why Make Room @ The Table came up with its tips.
The group — a loose association of 20 or so people, including aging experts — started meeting this summer to talk about how to solve the problem of isolation, especially, but not exclusively, for the elderly. The problem isn’t new, but the virus has made it newly visible.
“With COVID-19, far more people have experienced loneliness and isolation than ever before,” Johnston says. “It brought it out into the sunlight. People don’t talk about loneliness, but people have started to talk about it because of COVID-19 and the restrictions.”
As Thanksgiving approached, the group members wondered: What could they do besides, in Johnston’s words, “admire the problem”?
In her long life as a journalist, Johnston has learned the value of supplying information in lists. So after the group traded ideas, she created two lists.
One is 16 tips for enjoying a Thanksgiving alone, made with the understanding that only one tip might resonate for any given person.
As Phyllis Mitzen, a social worker who helped found the group, says, “If someone is experiencing a low level of depression or feeling overwhelmed, you can’t say: Go bake something. But there might be something that catches their eye and makes them think, ‘Oh, I can do that.’ ”
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Among the tips:
— Schedule a Zoom meal with friends on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or during the three-day weekend following Thanksgiving. Make that your “holiday celebration.”
— Begin a journal or add to one you already have. Consider starting work on a memoir. Emphasize gratitude and the things in your life for which you are thankful.
— Write a note to people you are thankful are in your life. Or, reach out to them by phone, email or text.
The group’s second list offers tips on how to connect with someone who might be lonely on the holiday.
“The onus is usually on the lonely person,” Johnston said. “They tell people who are lonely to reach out. But if people don’t reach back, you’re still going to be lonely.” The group, she said, wanted to “set up the idea that there is a responsibility people have to make sure people are not lonely.”
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Tips on that list include:
— Make room at your table virtually. … If it’s too much of a hassle to include someone who’s alone for an entire Thanksgiving meal, ask them to log onto Zoom and share dessert.
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— Leave a plant, homemade goodies or a card at the door of a neighbor you know is alone on Thanksgiving.
— Write “letters of gratitude” to friends you know will be alone. Mail them so they will arrive the day before Thanksgiving but write “Do Not Open Until Thanksgiving” on the envelopes.
Again, the idea isn’t to do all the things on the list. It’s to find one or two that seem doable. The full lists are online here.
It’s tempting to think of this pandemic Thanksgiving as a curse, but it’s also an opportunity to think and act differently. And that, for some people, might mean following tip No. 16 for how to enjoy Thanksgiving alone:
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Ignore the holiday and view it as just another day. Stick to your usual routine, take something out of the freezer and chill.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MarySchmich


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--Video: Friend who bought gun for Kyle Rittenhouse told police teen predicted life behind bars after

Video: Friend who bought gun for Kyle Rittenhouse told police teen predicted life behind bars after shooting 3 during Kenosha protests

After Antaramian told Black he was not in custody , the teen gave his account of events surrounding the shootings @ @ @ @ @ police reports .
Black — who said he dated Rittenhouse ’ s younger sister and @ @ @ @ @ about a year — told the officer that the two went to Kenosha to protect @ @ @ @ @ same person .
Black said they brought assault-style rifles “ just in case they shoot @ @ @ @ @ case we have to defend ourselves .
”

Stacy St. Clair, Christy Gutowski, Dan Hinkel

Antioch police released a recorded interview with Dominick Black, a friend of Kyle Rittenhouse, shortly after the Aug. 25, 2020 shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
Kyle Rittenhouse predicted he would spend the rest of his life in prison after shooting three people during chaotic demonstrations in Kenosha over the summer, a close friend told police hours after the gunfire.
Dominick Black, now 19, told investigators that Rittenhouse fled to the back room of a local business after Kenosha police rebuffed his attempt to turn himself in. Black said he met Rittenhouse there and tried to calm him down after he fatally shot two men and wounded another.
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“The dude’s sweating like a pig. He’s just freaking out. His face is white,” Black said in a recorded interview obtained by the Tribune. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to jail for the rest of my life. I’m done.’ (He’s) just scared.”
The interview was recorded Aug. 26 at the Antioch police station, where Rittenhouse turned himself in shortly after the shooting. Rittenhouse, his mother and two sisters also sat for interviews with Kenosha detectives that night.
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Prosecutors have since charged Black with two felony counts of illegally providing Rittenhouse, 17, with the rifle ― one count for each man who died.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 32 Kyle Rittenhouse, center, walks into the courtroom with attorney Corey Chirafisi for a motion hearing in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sept. 17, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News )
Kenosha County Court Commissioner Loren Keating found at a hearing Thursday that there was probable cause to go ahead with Black’s prosecution, rebuffing defense lawyers’ efforts to have the case thrown out. Black is due for an arraignment Jan. 13.
Rittenhouse was released from the Kenosha County jail Friday afternoon after his lawyers posted $2 million bail.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, Antioch police released recorded interviews with Black and with Rittenhouse’s older sister, Faith, late Thursday. The videos give the first glimpse at how the investigation unfolded in the hours after Rittenhouse shot the men amid unrest in southeast Wisconsin.
Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, died from the injuries they sustained that night, while Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.
Rittenhouse currently faces murder and gun charges in Kenosha County. Rittenhouse’s attorneys have argued he shot the men in self-defense. Family members and representatives of the men shot have rejected the idea that Rittenhouse was justified in firing.
Violent protests erupted Aug. 25 in Kenosha after police Officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white, shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, several times in the back at close range. The demonstrations — fueled by video of the shooting — turned destructive at points, leaving parts of the city damaged.
The video shows Kenosha police Detective Benjamin Antaramian leading Black through a cordial interview that lasted roughly an hour. Black did not show visible signs of distress, unlike Rittenhouse, who police reports indicate cried and vomited when speaking with authorities.
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After Antaramian told Black he was not in custody, the teen gave his account of events surrounding the shootings, which echoed previously released police reports. Black — who said he dated Rittenhouse’s younger sister and had known the family for about a year — told the officer that the two went to Kenosha to protect several properties owned by the same person. Black said they brought assault-style rifles “just in case they shoot at us … just in case we have to defend ourselves.”
While taking the statement, the detective told Black that the protests had been “anarchy.”
Black said he spent much of his time on the roof of one business while Rittenhouse walked around below with a medical kit and an AR-15.
Black said he had purchased the gun in his name at a hardware store in northern Wisconsin, but Rittenhouse paid for it. At age 17, Rittenhouse could not legally purchase the firearm on his own.
“I don’t know why … the whole time I’m thinking, ‘he’s not 18,’” he told police. “In my head, like, I could have stopped it. But I know if I would have told him ‘no,’ he would have threw a fit.”
Black said he heard shots and then Rittenhouse called him to say he’d shot someone. Black’s statements about what his friend later told him about the shootings largely mirror Rittenhouse’s lawyers’ contention that the teen fired because people were attacking him and he feared for his life.
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Black said he watched from the roof as Rittenhouse seemingly tried to turn himself in to police, but the officers did not arrest him. Black said Rittenhouse told him an officer had threatened to pepper-spray him during that exchange.
Black said that after the shootings, he and Rittenhouse met in a building and decided to leave Kenosha.
“It was like, ‘you know what, we’re gonna get in my car, we’re gonna drive out of here before anything bad else happens to you, and we’re just gonna go back home and you’re gonna go to the police station,’” Black said.
At one point, Black suggested he could eventually be held responsible for the shootings, even though Antaramian repeatedly stated he was not investigating the gun’s provenance and kept the tone of his questions amiable.
“Dude, I think I’m gonna be in more trouble than you because you defended yourself,” Black said he told Rittenhouse. “In all reality, you are not supposed to have that gun. That gun was in my name.”
Black’s attorney declined comment late Thursday night.
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In a recent phone interview with the Washington Post, Rittenhouse said he paid for the gun with a mixture of stimulus and unemployment money after losing his part-time job at the start of the pandemic. Rittenhouse had been furloughed from his job as a lifeguard at the Lindenhurst YMCA.
Black said is not aware of any formal gun training Rittenhouse received and that his friend did not hunt. Before the Kenosha unrest, Black said, the two teens had only shot targets and clay pigeons together. He did not have a lot of praise for Rittenhouse’s abilities.
“He’s horrible at shooting clay pigeons,” Black said.
After the shooting, Black drove Rittenhouse back to his mother’s apartment in Antioch. They met up with Rittenhouse’s mother and two sisters there, he said.
“What does his mom say?” the detective asked.
Black gave a small laugh.
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“At first she was like ... you got a choice: You gotta get out of town or you can turn yourself into the police office right now.”
Rittenhouse’s sister confirmed the family discussed the possibility of going into hiding, but Rittenhouse wanted to turn himself in.
Much of Faith Rittenhouse’s 35-minute interview is inaudible as she speaks in a soft voice while describing how she first learned about the shooting on social media. The 20-year-old allowed a Kenosha detective to review text messages and other media from her phone that night and became tearful when he appears to watch video of the chaos that night.
“We asked what happened and he said, ‘I was getting attacked and so I had to shoot,’” she told the detective.
At the end of her interview, Kenosha police informed her that Kyle Rittenhouse would remain in custody and likely face criminal charges in Wisconsin.


chicagotribune--2020-11-20--Antioch police interview Dominick Black, friend of Kyle Rittenhouse

Antioch police released a recorded interview with Dominick Black , a friend of Kyle Rittenhouse , shortly after the Aug. @ @ @ @ @ Kenosha , Wisconsin .

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chicagotribune--2020-11-20--‘Endangered’ teen missing from unincorporated Elk Grove Township home: police

She is described as being 5 feet tall , weighing about 130 lbs.
, with a medium complexion , and @ @ @ @ @ brown eyes and pierced ears .
She was last seen wearing green , brown , @ @ @ @ @ , a black sweatshirt and black Vans shoes .
Authorities also said she has a @ @ @ @ @ on the back of her right hand .

Cook County authorities were searching for a missing northwest suburban teenage girl they considered endangered.
Valeria Abarca, 13, was last seen at her home in unincorporated Cook County near Des Plaines on Wednesday night but is believed to have left her home sometime overnight, Cook County sheriff’s police said in a statement. Authorities did not provide further details.
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Valeria Abarca, 13, left her home in unincorporated Elk Grove Township overnight Wednesday and is considered endangered, according to the Cook County sheriff's police. (Cook County sheriffs police / HANDOUT)
She is described as being 5 feet tall, weighing about 130 lbs., with a medium complexion, and having long brown hair, brown eyes and pierced ears. She was last seen wearing green, brown, tan and black camouflage pants, a black sweatshirt and black Vans shoes. Authorities also said she has a scar from a previous burn on the back of her right hand.
Anyone with information on Valeria’s location is asked to call Cook County sheriff’s police at 708-865-4896, or the sheriff’s nonemergency number at 847-635-1188.
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Check back for updates.