chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Man charged, held without bail in shooting death of 9-year-old Janari Ricks ‘went hunting’ before mi

Man charged, held without bail in shooting death of 9-year-old Janari Ricks ‘went hunting’ before mistakenly killing child, prosecutors say

Johnson ’ s attorney , Nick Burris , said in court Tuesday that Johnson has worked in construction , has @ @ @ @ @ expecting a third .
Given the high-profile attention given Johnson , Burris said , it @ @ @ @ @ impossible ” for him to go out and commit an offense if he were placed @ @ @ @ @

Jalisa Ford sits on the ground on Aug. 1, 2020, while rubbing the walkway where her 9-year-old son, Janari Andre Ricks, was fatally shot while playing with friends at the Cabrini Green rowhouses the previous evening. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Before limping through a Cabrini-Green alley and allegedly firing shots that killed a 9-year-old boy, Darrell Johnson “went hunting,” prosecutors said Tuesday — peering through a fence and into courtyards, as if looking for a target.
When he approached the fence for a third time, prosecutors said, he stopped and pulled something from his clothing. One neighbor then saw him limping through the alley. Two others saw him shoot. Then 9-year-old Janari Ricks was hit by a bullet in the back, pronounced dead less than half an hour later.
Advertisement
Johnson was ordered held without bail on first-degree murder charges Tuesday, after prosecutors gave a judge a detailed description of the latest child homicide to shake Chicago.
Prosecutors did not identify the intended target of the attack, but noted that several rowhouse residents and their friends had gathered outside Friday evening in the 500 block of West Locust Street. And as Johnson approached, Janari was at the other end of the alley, exchanging a playful handshake with a friend.
Advertisement
Janari heard the shots, turned and ran away. But he was struck in the back, a through-and-through wound, and collapsed face-first onto the ground, prosecutors said.
He was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital and pronounced dead — killed on the last day of Chicago’s most violent month in 28 years, with at least 107 people killed, according to data kept by the Tribune.
Johnson’s attorney, Nick Burris, said in court Tuesday that Johnson has worked in construction, has two children and is soon expecting a third. Given the high-profile attention given Johnson, Burris said, it would be “next to impossible” for him to go out and commit an offense if he were placed on electronic home monitoring.
But prosecutors objected to the idea that Johnson is not a threat to public safety.
“Certainly the victim in this case, a 9-year-old boy, would believe this defendant posed a danger to everybody out there,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
Murphy said surveillance footage from just before the attack shows the shooter exit a car, retrieve something from inside and walk toward the area of the shooting. The man then stops multiple times to look through a fence to a courtyard area, “as if looking for something or someone,” Murphy said.
After the shooting, he can be seen “hopping or limping” away from the scene while holding his left side. The video is high-quality, and a police officer from the Near North district who knows Johnson identified him on the video, Murphy said.
Two witnesses identified Johnson as the person they saw shooting in the alley, prosecutors said. Another witness said she recognized him as the person “wobbling or skipping” down the alley before shots were fired. Yet another witness identified him as the person she saw limping in the alley after the attack.
Advertisement
Johnson walks with a limp after being shot in the leg and ankle some years back, Murphy said.
Johnson was a longtime resident of a now-demolished Cabrini-Green building not far from the shooting, records show.
Darrell Johnson. (Chicago Police Department)
Police have said both the gunman and the intended target have connections to Cabrini-Green. Most of the public housing buildings there were systematically demolished, including the building that court records list as Johnson’s address up until recent years.
Johnson has a lengthy arrest record but relatively few convictions. His most serious cases date to 2005, when he pleaded guilty to attempted carjacking and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
The number of shooting victims younger than 10 years old is three times what it was last year, according to Tribune data. Twenty-four children 10 years old and younger have been shot in Chicago as of the end of July — five fatally. The 2019 total during the same time period was eight.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--FBI, Chicago police seek help identifying gunman in fatal shooting of 14-year-old in attack that kil

FBI, Chicago police seek help identifying gunman in fatal shooting of 14-year-old in attack that killed 3 others, wounded 4

Vernado Jones Jr. , 14 , was one of eight people who were shot at a Fourth of July gathering @ @ @ @ @ one of four people shot who died and one of three children shot in the @ @ @ @ @ Street , according to police .
Also wounded were an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old @ @

Chicago police Tuesday released a video in hopes of identifying a gunman involved in a shooting that killed a 14-year-old Chicago boy July Fourth and also left three other people dead and four wounded.
Chicago detectives are working with the FBI to solve the crime and have announced a reward of as much as $25,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the gunman.
Advertisement
Vernado Jones Jr., 14, was one of eight people who were shot at a Fourth of July gathering in Englewood. He was one of four people shot who died and one of three children shot in the 6100 block of South Carpenter Street, according to police. Also wounded were an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy.
Authorities originally said there may be as many as four people who walked up to the gathering about 11:30 p.m. that night and opened fire.
Advertisement
In the course of their investigation, officials learned at least part of the shooting was caught on video. On Tuesday, Chicago police released a portion of the video that shows the man they are searching for, who was wearing a yellow hooded sweatshirt and pants.
The video shows people gathered outside with fireworks in the distance. It slows and zooms in to show some of the attackers walk toward the party, on 62nd Street toward Carpenter. Then gunfire is heard and people are seen running away.
Soon after, the man in the yellow sweatshirt and others run back down 62nd toward Morgan Street.
The video is not clear enough to allow a viewer to see details of the man’s features.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the man in the yellow sweatshirt is asked to call detectives at 312-747-8380. Anonymous tips can be submitted at cpdtip.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Puerto Rico added to Chicago’s travel list

While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents @ @ @ @ @ Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold .
If they stay under 15-per-100,00 for @ @ @ @ @ be removed from the list , she said .

People with masks walk in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 20, 2020. Chicago added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers. (Ricardo Arduenggo/Getty-AFP)
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago.
Advertisement
Households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations, Arwady said.
To underscore the danger of contracting the disease at a party, Arwady recounted a story she said a contract tracer heard about a woman attending her mother’s birthday party, along with her son, daughter, sister and niece.
Advertisement
“Everyone tested positive after getting together at the event,” Arwady said.
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home, Arwady said.
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents, Arwady said Iowa, Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold. If they stay under 15-per-100,000 for another week, they would be removed from the list, she said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order requires people who have traveled into from Chicago any of the identified high-risk states to self-quarantine for 14 days. Other states on the list are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Is the coronavirus issuing last call for Chicago’s old school neighborhood bars?

“ At the end of the day you have to look at the hard economics of what ’ s going @ @ @ @ @ .
“ There ’ s only so long you can own a business with no @ @ @ @ @ state will still want liquor licenses renewed and there ’ s insurance and property tax @ @ @ @ @ to pay staff when you can .
”

GMan Tavern manager Tom Cathcart, stands outside the Clark Street bar on Aug 1, 2020. It is open only Saturday afternoons for takeout. The shutdown of indoor service has dealt the bar a devastating blow. “Baseball was something we could hold onto and promote,” he said. “Then the hammer came down.” (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
The GMan Tavern hadn’t sold a pint of beer in nearly four months when the 44-year-old Wrigleyville bar finally saw its route back into business in late July.
Baseball.
Advertisement
With the strangely late arrival of Cubs opening day on July 24, GMan decided it would piggyback off interest in its fabled neighbor to reopen at the city’s reduced 25% capacity.
Even just 40 people spread across GMan’s two rooms watching ballgames and sipping beers would have allowed the bar to hire back staff and get revenue flowing again during the COVID-19 pandemic, manager Tom Cathcart said.
Advertisement
“Baseball was something we could hold onto and promote,” Cathcart said. “Then the hammer came down.”
GMan Tavern manager Tom Cathcart waits Aug. 1, 2020, for carry-out customers during the five-hour span on Saturdays when the bar operates. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Four days before the first pitch, the city pulled the plug on bars without food licenses operating indoors, even at 25% capacity. Nearly 500 bars didn’t have food licenses, according to the city, and those that also lacked outdoor spaces would have no route to operate at all — GMan among them.
It wasn’t GMan’s initial closure, in mid-March, that stung most, Cathcart said. It was the inability to reopen while hundreds of competitors were able to do so.
“That was probably the worst of all because I thought we had a foothold to get things going again,” he said.
Except for the five hours every Saturday that GMan sells beer to go, the bar continues to sit idle. Whether it can survive remains a question, and it’s the same question that echoes across the city through neighborhood bars and dives that, like GMan, can have decades or even generations of history behind them.
The closing two weeks ago of 34-year-old Guthrie’s Tavern, announced hours after the city said it would roll back bars’ abilities to operate, may have just been the first sign that the simple business model of offering a pint, a pool table and late night camaraderie has become particularly tenuous in the era of coronavirus.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 Ron DeNicolo and his wife, Cynthia, take a photograph outside Guthrie's Tavern, 1300 W. Addison St., on July 21 in Chicago. DeNicolo said he and Cynthia had their first date at the bar 10 years ago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Before restaurant groups, before cell phones and before Chicago transitioned from blue collar to white, neighborhood bars were core pieces of Chicago’s fabric, and they remain key to understanding the city. They’re often far older than a neighborhood’s current character. They are vehicles to the past.
But the COVID-19 pandemic — and the city’s response to it, whether flawed, justified or somewhere in between — threatens their futures.
Advertisement
“Before the pandemic, not having a food license and not having to deal with a patio was a blessing,” Cathcart said. “Now it’s a curse.”
Sentimental bar-goers quickly lined up for beers and selfies during the final nights at Guthrie’s, but it may not be the last bar to get such a send-off in the weeks or months ahead.
“We’ll probably lose 200 if there’s not a big change,” said Pat Doerr, managing director of the Hospitality Business Association of Chicago, a lobbying group that represents bars, restaurants and music venues.
What’s needed, he said, is the “immediate expansion of outdoor seating, including sidewalk cafes, and a relief program of tax breaks and employment incentives from the city, state or feds until there’s a vaccine.”
“They won’t make it short term without outdoor seating and won’t make it long term without (financial aid),” Doerr said.
GMan Tavern is open for carry-out customers during a five-hour span on Saturdays when the bar operates. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Perhaps sensing the urgency — and the fallout from a bar of Guthrie’s stature closing — the city announced Friday it would expand outdoor permitting to allow bars that don’t serve food to apply to serve customers on sidewalks outside their front doors.
Advertisement
However several bar owners said the flexibility to start safely seating outdoor — on sidewalks, in parking lots, in loading zones — needed to start weeks ago and with as little hindrance as possible. Cathcart said GMan won’t even apply.
“We’re not sure how to promote it and who would come out,” he said. “We’re not sure if it’s worth it.”
Beermiscuous, a new breed of neighborhood bar in Lakeview that doubles as a craft beer bottle shop, is also unsure whether to apply for sidewalk seating.
“We’re leaning toward applying for sidewalk seating, but I’m skeptical how much this is actually going to help, and how many people we’d be able to accommodate,” co-owner Austin Harvey said.
“What would help us immediately in the meantime are things like aid, rent relief and a more case-by-case investigation on which establishments are taking safely reopening seriously,” he said. “I still think that having a kitchen doesn’t necessarily make your place any safer than one without.”
Harvey and two partners, all of whom were Beermiscuous employees, bought the business in February from its founder. Two weeks later, the bar had to close due to the pandemic.
Advertisement
Gman Tavern manager Tom Cathcart waits for carry-out customers outside the Wrigleyville bar where he works fulfilling orders on Saturdays. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“Obviously we can’t punch at weight until there’s a vaccine or treatment,” Harvey said. “We’ve had to completely alter our business model several times since March and it looks like we’ll be doing so again soon. It would be refreshing to have a consistency and a plan from people in power.”
Steven Frytz, owner of Harbee Liquors & Tavern in Pilsen, said neighborhood bars such as his are experiencing “a train wreck in slow motion.” Harbee hasn’t served a beer since March 13; Frytz said he chose not to reopen at 25% capacity because he had a feeling it would be rolled back.
Instead, he said, he sold a small piece of property and borrowed money to build a 900-square-foot deck behind his bar that can accommodate 20 to 25 people with COVID-19 social distancing. He had aimed to open the deck by late July. Construction delays means he now targets late August.
Frytz said his wife is constantly second-guessing investing in the bar during the pandemic. He doesn’t blame her.
“We’re nervous running on borrowed funds and hoping things go back to normal,” he said. “No one can sit down with a calculator and say ‘I’m gonna make a go of it; I know what I’m in for.‘”
Still, he said, he does it because of Harbee’s history in the neighborhood. The bar has been at its location on 18th Street for more than 100 years, and endured even as the demographics around it have changed several times.
Advertisement
“Everyone has a grandfather or great-grandfather who said they drank there when they were young,” Frytz said.
Four Treys, a 52-year-old bar in Roscoe Village is “just scraping along,” said co-owner Colleen Flood.
The bar was early to partner with a nearby restaurant to open on the sidewalk — Kitsch’n on Roscoe — but it can only seat about 12 people, Flood said.
Even when Four Treys could serve indoors, it did so tentatively. What would have been more helpful, Flood said, was the ability to expand outdoor seating sooner. Still, she acknowledges that the city is navigating an unprecedented crisis.
“I put myself in peoples’ places before I condemn them,” she said. “I do think in the beginning there was this question of how do you manage this and keep people safe. It’s OK what they’re doing. But they could step it up and make it a little better with more capacity.”
Flood said she knows at least one fellow veteran bar owner who has been closed because he sees no way to operate, even in the parking lot behind the bar.
Advertisement
“I said hell’s bells, you’ve been there 34 years,” Flood said. “This is a kick in the teeth for people who have had their business for a long time, but I also feel bad for the people who have just opened and are paying rent.”
The Inner Town Pub, shown in 2017, is one of the great corner bars of Ukrainian Village. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Inner Town Pub, a classic corner bar in Ukrainian Village, reopened July 1 at 25% capacity, which owner Denis Fogarty said “was not a viable business option, but I was willing to keep it going because the business is important to me and the people who work for me are important to me.”
His uncle, Mike Gormley, opened the bar in 1983, long before the neighborhood had become the gentrified domain of young families. Fogarty took over Inner Town in 2015.
“Sometimes I feel more like a curator than a bar owner,” Fogarty said.
Even when the city closed Inner Town and other bars without food licenses for indoor seating three weeks later, Fogarty remained hopeful about a six-table patio he’d built behind the bar in a lot previously used for storage and parking.
The patio opened July 7 and closed July 9 after a red tape roller coaster: Inner Town was initially denied a permit to operate the space, then granted one, but told two days later it had been issued by mistake.
Advertisement
For nearly a month Fogarty awaited approval from city officials, including Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward. Last week, Fogarty said, he got tired of waiting and published an open letter on the Inner Town website decrying the delays.
“I have this little space that would be a lifeline to us during this pandemic and I feel like we’re being shut out,” he said.
Hopkins ultimately signed off on the patio after seeking input from the East Village Association, a local community group that in January had opposed a commercial zoning change to allow Inner Town’s patio to operate on a permanent basis. In a July 8 letter to Fogarty’s attorney, the East Village Association also questioned whether the bar was eligible to operate outdoors on a limited basis during the pandemic.
Once it was clear that the Inner Town Pub was eligible for an expanded outdoor dining permit through Dec. 31, the East Village Association agreed not to oppose the patio.
“At the end of the day you have to look at the hard economics of what’s going on,” Fogarty said. “There’s only so long you can own a business with no revenue. The city and state will still want liquor licenses renewed and there’s insurance and property tax to pay, plus trying to pay staff when you can.”
The pandemic and the response to it is “strangling these small businesses,” he said.
Advertisement
“We’re a niche business that caters to our local clientele,” Fogarty said. “We don’t charge a lot for product. We’re a place where you can get a Chicago handshake (an Old Style and a shot of Malort) for 5 bucks. We’re a place where people can afford to spend time and you can bring food from somewhere else and play free pool and listen to great music and have a great relationship with our staff. We’re a neighborhood joint.”
jbnoel@chicagotribune.com
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the East Village Association did not have formal approval power over the Inner Town Pub’s ability to open an outdoor space during the pandemic. It also adds background on the association’s past opposition regarding the Inner Town’s plans to change its zoning and operate a patio, as well as its skepticism about Inner Town’s ability to open the patio during the pandemic.


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks, in 3 charts

The plan also includes mitigation steps unique to different categories , like restaurants and bars , offices or salons , @ @ @ @ @ specifically respond to a type of outbreak in a specific part of the state .
@ @ @ @ @ s plan here .

Jemal R. Brinson, Nausheen Husain, Jonathon Berlin

Amid an uptick of COVID-19 cases over the past month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker laid out a new approach to managing any resurgence across the state.
The new approach is more surgical, dividing the state into 11 regions — Illinois’ existing Emergency Medical Services regions — and tightening the metrics officials will watch to determine if any action is warranted.
The plan also includes mitigation steps unique to different categories, like restaurants and bars, offices or salons, that could be used to specifically respond to a type of outbreak in a specific part of the state. Read more on Pritzker’s plan here.
Check our tracker for daily metrics for each region.
Here is a breakdown of the plan.


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Pritzker says U. of I.’s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available; says colleges and

Pritzker says U. of I.’s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available; says colleges and universities should not open without strict enforcement of mask mandate

“ There ’ s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making sure that you @ @ @ @ @ mandate , ” Pritzker said .
“ We have a statewide mask mandate , we @ @ @ @ @ May 1 .
There ’ s some people who don ’ t follow it , @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s vitally important that everybody follow it , keep their social distance and @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have overcapacity in this environment so that there ’ s a viral @ @ @ @ @ any given space .
”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker answers questions from the media after he unveiled a new mask awareness campaign called "It Only Works If You Wear It" during a press conference at the IEMA State Emergency Operations Center on August 3, 2020, in Springfield, Ill. (Justin L. Fowler/AP)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday his administration is in talks with University of Illinois officials about making a saliva test researchers there have developed for use on campus more widely available in Illinois.
The saliva test developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be used for faculty and students before in- person classes on campus this fall, and differs from the invasive nasal swab that’s been much more widely used as the method for testing for COVID-19.
Advertisement
“We’re going to continue to ramp up testing across the state, make sure that that’s available. You may have heard that the University of Illinois now has a saliva test,” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. “We’re talking to the University of Illinois about how we might provide that across the state to other locations.”
The University of Illinois announced Monday that students and faculty participating in in-person classes this fall are required to undergo the saliva-based testing twice weekly, beginning later this month.
Advertisement
A day after announcing the launch of a mask awareness campaign that seeks to target areas of the state with rising coronavirus metrics that indicate a resurgence there, Pritzker aimed his message in Carbondale directly at universities and colleges.
“There’s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making sure that you’re enforcing a mask mandate,” Pritzker said. “We have a statewide mask mandate, we’ve had one since May 1. There’s some people who don’t follow it, but on university campuses, it’s vitally important that everybody follow it, keep their social distance and then we make sure we don’t have overcapacity in this environment so that there’s a viral load that builds up in any given space.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced 1,471 newly-confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the previous 24 hours and 19 additional deaths of people with coronavirus.
That brings the statewide totals to 184,712 known cases and 7,545 deaths since the pandemic began. The statewide average positivity rate is currently 3.9%. One month ago, the rate was 2.6%.
Pritzker has made several downstate stops over the past week, in Peoria, Springfield and Tuesday’s visit to Carbondale, sounding an alarm about rising coronavirus metrics in those areas.
Coronavirus outbreaks in Jackson County, which includes Carbondale, have been traced to parties held by Southern Illinois University students returning to campus early, Pritzker said, underscoring a challenge universities nationwide are likely to face this fall in clamping down on aspects of college life outside the classroom.
Southern Illinois and Metro East have the highest average positivity rates among all regions of the state. The COVID-19 pandemic “once seemed tame in Carbondale, and throughout the region, is now surging here,” Pritzker said. “It’s worse than in Chicago.”
Illinois was one of many places that struggled early on to ramp up testing capacity as the pandemic took hold in the United States this spring. On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 42,598 tests conducted over the prior 24 hours in the state, raising the total tests conducted to date to 2,849,395.
Advertisement
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Column: Pandemic forces Open House Chicago to shift to exterior and online tours

An exterior view of the Yale Building , located in Englewood , which was featured in the annual Open House @ @ @ @ @ was built in the 1890 's as luxury apartments for visitors of the World 's @ @ @ @ @ now used as low-income housing for senior citizens .

An exterior view of the Yale Building, located in Englewood, which was featured in the annual Open House Chicago in 2017. It was built in the 1890's as luxury apartments for visitors of the World's Columbian Exposition and it is now used as low-income housing for senior citizens. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
For years, the Open House Chicago architecture festival has lured thousands of visitors with the promise of peeking behind facades and getting a look at splendid interiors, like the soaring Art Deco lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade Building.
This year will be different, a concession to the public health risks posed by COVID-19.
Advertisement
The Chicago Architecture Center, which runs the festival, announced Tuesday that this year’s event will offer exterior and online tours due to “the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Unless plans change, there will be no interior tours.
‘”We are not planing to coordinate or offer entry to any building,” Lynn Osmond, the center’s CEO, confirmed in an email.
Advertisement
As if to compensate for the loss of the event’s signature feature, the center will expand Open House Chicago to 10 days, Oct. 16-25, marking the event’s 10th anniversary. In the past, the festival was on a single weekend.
With access to interiors restricted, the event also will emphasize entire neighborhoods rather than individual buildings.
An interior of the Yale Building's atrium which was a part of the 2017 Open House Chicago. The Englewood neighborhood building was built in the 1890s as luxury apartments for visitors of the World's Columbian Exposition and it is now used as low-income housing for senior citizens. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
As part of that approach, it will highlight 10 South and West side neighborhoods that are the focus of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West program. The $750 million initiative seeks to boost struggling business districts in areas like Austin and Englewood.
“We’re guiding attendees to think more broadly about the urban fabric and the various ‘connective tissues’ that residents and visitors share,” Osmond said in her email.
The big question is whether the event can attract people without offering access to a rich array of interiors. Osmond thinks it can. The expanded festival, she said in her email, “may provide a richer experience than in years past.”
Open House Chicago is part of a global series of architecture festivals begun in London in 1992, that feature free interior tours. Last year’s event drew nearly 110,000 people to more than 350 sites in Chicago and the neighboring suburbs of Evanston and Oak Park, according to the center.
It is unclear how many sites will take part in this year’s festival. The center expects to name the sites in early September.
Also at that time, people will be able to register for online events, including presentations and classes about the featured sites and neighborhoods. No registration will be required for self-guided exterior tours.
Advertisement
All sites will be available in person and online, Osmond said. The exterior tours will be aided by material on the event’s app and the website openhousechicago.org.
The South Shore Cultural Center, a landmarked building at 70th Street and the lakefront. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)
People attending in person will be encouraged to wear face masks and maintain social distancing. The in-person tours, the center said in a news release, are for “individuals, families and small groups that have isolated together.”
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 >
More than 20 Chicago neighborhoods will participate, along with Evanston and Oak Park. In addition to the Loop and its treasure trove of architecture, featured neighborhoods range from Pilsen to Chinatown to Woodlawn, which borders the site of the planned Obama Presidential Center.
The festival’s focus on the Invest South/West areas is the second recent example of collaboration between the center and the city’s Department of Planning and Development. The department recently tapped the center to help pick 24 to 36 architecture and design firms to take part in Invest South/West. The architects could work for developers who redevelop city-owned land.
Advertisement
The 10 neighborhoods in the program are Auburn Gresham, North Lawndale, Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, New City, Roseland, South Chicago, South Shore and an area that city officials identify as the Quad Communities. It includes North Kenwood, Oakland, and portions of Douglas and Grand Boulevard.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Watch live: President Trump holds a news conference

Get the latest updates on COVID-19 in Illinois here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Illinois coronavirus graphs: 7,545 deaths, 184,712 confirmed cases and 2.84 million tests

• How are Illinois regions doing ?
Check our daily charts on where each region stands on positivity rate and @ @ @ @ @ .

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


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Reputed mob boss Michael ‘the Large Guy’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pan

Reputed mob boss Michael ‘the Large Guy’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pandemic

When he was sentenced , a federal judge noted that the bombing took place on a public street in Berwyn @ @ @ @ @ to endanger people who might have been nearby .
“ The need to protect the @ @ @ @ @ ” the judge said .

Reputed mob boss Michael “the Large Guy” Sarno says 10 years behind bars has reduced him to “a senior citizen with severe medical issues,” and he wants out of federal prison early because of the “deadly risk” of the pandemic.
A petition filed Monday seeks compassionate release for the 62-year-old Sarno, who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for ordering the bombing of a rival business in Berwyn to protect his illegal and lucrative video poker operation.
Advertisement
“Mr. Sarno poses no danger to any person or to his community,” the petition argues. “Between his multitude of medical issues and confinement to a wheel chair, he is no longer the Michael Sarno of the past.”
Besides, the petition adds, “The Chicago Outfit” that once employed Sarno’s services “was demolished” by the feds.
Advertisement
“For anybody to suggest that Mr. Sarno belongs in jail and that he is a violent offender — it’s wrong, it’s misplaced,” Sarno’s lawyer, John Chwarzynski, told the Tribune Tuesday. “Mr. Sarno should be back at home. He should be with his family.”
When he was sentenced, a federal judge noted that the bombing took place on a public street in Berwyn and that Sarno was willing to endanger people who might have been nearby. “The need to protect the public is very high,” the judge said.
Sarno’s crew also engaged in smash-and-grab robberies in which hundreds of thousands of dollars in gems were stolen from jewelry stores and then fenced at a Cicero pawnshop operated by the Outlaws motorcycle gang, according to prosecutors.
The petition argues that the 25-year sentence was overly harsh, contending the evidence against Sarno was not strong and the judge wrongly considered him a career criminal. “By keeping Mr. Sarno in jail, they are now essentially changing his sentence to the death penalty, and that’s not right,” Chwarzynski said.
The petition details a host of medical problems: “Empyema of the lungs, chronic obstructive asthma, iron deficiency anemia, benign hypertrophy of prostate, an enlarged gallbladder, renal failure, an elevated white blood cell count, he is 100% incontinent, hypertension, osteoarthritis of the knees requiring two total knee replacements, and is unable to walk and ambulates with a wheel chair.”
The petition adds, “The combination of his health problems and the unique risks that the COVID-19 pandemic poses to him, amounts to extraordinary and compelling reasons that warrant his release.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Pair charged in Cedar Lake shooting, but neither is in custody

The victim ’ s father had come up from Kentucky for graduation parties , records state and the victim ’ @ @ @ @ @ were also in the house at the time .
After hearing “ a commotion or @ @ @ @ @ had tried to go to the bedroom , but the door had been blocked by @ @ @ @ @

Two men face charges they shot a Cedar Lake man while stealing $400 in cash during a home robbery, records show. Neither are yet in custody.
Alexander Marshall, 22, of Gary, and Javonte Camell, 20, of Matteson, Illinois, were each charged July 30 with five felonies, documents state.
Advertisement
Both men walked into the victim’s home July 27 on the 14000 block of Wheeler Street where they found him and the victim’s girlfriend in his bedroom, records state. After asking to “smoke some weed,” the victim was getting it out of a small safe when Marshall and Camell drew guns at him, documents show.
“That’s mine,” they said, referring to $600-$800 in the safe, according to charging documents.
Advertisement
They took $400 and put it in Camell’s backpack, records state. The money was from the victim’s job at a local country club, he told police. Both men, he knew as “Alex” and “Vonte,” knew his cousin, who also lived there, and they had hung out before, the victim said.
Marshall pointed a handgun at his head, while Camell pointed a tan sawed-off shotgun at him, the victim told police, according to documents.
The victim pinned Camell against a wall, pushed the shotgun and was holding it down when it went off, wounding him in the left thigh, records state. Both men fled out the front door.
The victim’s father had come up from Kentucky for graduation parties, records state and the victim’s sister and another man were also in the house at the time. After hearing “a commotion or wrestling,” the father had tried to go to the bedroom, but the door had been blocked by Marshall, records state.
Police later found a blood-stained black backpack left in the bedroom with documents and paystubs with Marshall’s name and 11 live 40-caliber bullets, according to documents.
The victim was transported to Franciscan Health Crown Point, before he was transferred to a Chicago trauma hospital for surgery. He is expected to recover, police said.
Both men were charged with robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, armed robbery, battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and pointing a firearm, records state.
Camell had an outstanding warrant in Cook County, Illinois, police said. A warrant was issued for him in Lake County on July 30 with bail set at $100,000, court records show. A warrant was also issued for Marshall on July 30.
Advertisement
Anyone with information can contact Cedar Lake Police at 219-374-4444.


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Traveling outside Illinois? Chicago residents must quarantine after visiting 22 states and Puerto Ri

Traveling outside Illinois? Chicago residents must quarantine after visiting 22 states and Puerto Rico. Here’s what you need to know to avoid a large fine.

Those traveling through Wisconsin on their way to Chicago from a state not on the list do not need to @ @ @ @ @ Wisconsin for less than 24 hours .
But those who travel to Wisconsin , even @ @ @ @ @ hours , still need to quarantine upon returning unless deemed an essential worker and follow @ @ @ @

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Dick DeGray, of Brattleboro, Vt., puts on his mask before going into the Municipal Building, in Brattleboro, as the town started to require visitors and staff to put their masks back on Aug. 11, 2021, due to COVID-19 virus numbers increasing in Windham County. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer)
Chicago has revamped its travel quarantine order to reflect rising rates of the coronavirus in Chicago and the rest of Illinois, moving from a blanket list of states to a color-coded list comparing the rate of infection here with that in other states.
On Tuesday, the city added New York, California and Washington, D.C., to its orange list, requiring all travelers from those states to either quarantine or prove they have had a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before arriving in Chicago. Idaho was moved from the stricter red list to the orange list.
Advertisement
Under the original version of the emergency travel order, states had been added to the list when they reached an infection rate greater than 15 cases per 100,000 residents and removed once the daily case average remains below that rate for two consecutive weeks.
Now, the city is using a color-coded list, which will be updated every two weeks.
Advertisement
“First and foremost, I would like people to avoid travel at this time if at all possible. But by creating a tiered system and using Chicago’s case rate as a category threshold, it allows us to be responsive to the changing dynamics of the pandemic,” said city health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
States that weren’t on the quarantine list that were added to the orange list the first week were Michigan, Connecticut, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and Louisiana.
Yellow-coded states are those with a rolling seven-day average below 15 cases per day per 100,000 residents. Anyone returning from these states doesn’t have to quarantine. Three states qualified as of Tuesday.
Orange-coded states are those with a rolling seven-day average between 15 cases per day per 100,000 residents and Chicago’s rolling seven-day average, which was 60 as of Tuesday. People traveling from these states must either quarantine for 14 days or show they had a negative COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before arrival in Chicago. There were 35 orange states, plus Washington, D.C., as of Tuesday.
Red-coded states are those with a rolling seven-day average above Chicago’s. Anyone traveling from these states has to quarantine. There were 11 red-coded states as of Tuesday.
People who commute across the Indiana or Wisconsin state lines to or from Chicago to work or go to school will be exempt from the quarantine rule, a nod to the symbiotic relationship between the neighboring states. But workers in Chicago from Indiana will be expected to avoid restaurants, bars and other public spaces in the city.
Here’s what you need to know about the city’s quarantine policies:
City says people will be fined
Anyone who visits red-listed states should stay inside for two weeks upon their return or risk a fine of $100 to $500 per day, according to the city. Those who visit orange-listed states are subject to the same fines if they don’t have a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine.
Advertisement
Despite the list’s fluctuating size, enforcement of the order so far has been nonexistent, save for some billboards and signs that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said are intended to “educate” people into compliance.
Lightfoot’s initial self-quarantine requirement was implemented during the Fourth of July weekend.
If city contact tracers get information that people who’ve caught the virus were in proximity to someone from a quarantine state and flouted the rules, they’ll issue a citation, Arwady has said.
They’ll also be on the lookout for people who are on social media “flagrantly posting their social activities, clearly out and about in Chicago after being in settings that are subject to our quarantine order, within the time frame,” she said. Investigators will look into any reports about city workers not following the guidelines, the health commissioner said.
Arwady has since clarified that the city “is not Big Brother,” nor does it have the resources to dedicate anyone to aimlessly scroll feeds from Chicagoans.
But if the agency receives a tip or is already looking into someone to determine whether to fine them, that’s when the city may scour social media.
Advertisement
“One of the easiest ways to sort of get enough proof … without me having to send out an inspector … is to look at social media,” Arwady said.
Details for travelers
The order has plenty of exceptions for different types of workers and depending on how long travelers spend in the listed states.
If someone drives through a state on the list but does not stay more than 24 hours, that person does not need to quarantine. But a city employee clarified that Chicagoans who choose to drive into Wisconsin and go out in public, regardless of whether they return later in the same day, do need to quarantine after such voluntary activities.
For example, Chicagoans who drive through Indiana (a red-listed state), Ohio and New York (orange-listed states) to spend a week in Vermont (a yellow-listed state) but who did not stay in Indiana and Ohio more than 24 hours do not need to quarantine. There are similar restrictions for air travelers. .
Travelers visiting Chicago from red- or orange-listed states also are subject to the order if they are staying longer than a day. Everyone older than age 2 who lands at a Chicago airport is required to wear a mask, then quarantine if they’ve come from a listed state.
If someone is staying with a Chicago resident after traveling to an affected state, the traveler must quarantine, but other people in the home who did not travel to a listed state are not required to quarantine. The resident should follow guidance for being around someone who has potentially been exposed.
Advertisement
Travelers or area residents who leave a Chicago airport and immediately travel to a suburb or outside Chicago limits are not required to quarantine — unless their municipality also has a travel restriction in place. The order also states that face coverings should be worn and that public transportation should not be used by those headed outside city limits.
Testing and exceptions to quarantine requirements in the revised rules
Under the guidance revised in November, Chicago residents returning from travel in red states or residents of red states who travel to the city are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival here, according to the city travel order website.
People in similar circumstances entering Chicago from orange states must either quarantine for 14 days or, with a “pre-arrival negative test result” from no more than three days before traveling to Chicago, may choose instead to employ “strict masking, social distancing and avoidance of in-person gatherings.”
There also is an option for those who can’t get a test while visiting an orange state, such as a visit not much longer than 24 hours. Someone can quarantine upon arrival in Illinois until a test can be arranged locally, according to the city’s travel order website. The test needs to be issued by a private provider because of concerns about limited capacity at public health testing sites.
“If you cannot be tested for COVID-19 prior to arriving in Chicago and do not take a post-arrival test, you must quarantine for 14 days (or the duration of your stay, whichever is shorter),” according to the website.
Essential workers and other exceptions
For those who live outside Chicago but work in the city, it’s important to determine whether you’re an essential or nonessential worker according to the executive order.
Advertisement
There are limited exceptions to the quarantine order for essential workers who have to travel for work. Travelers who don’t live in Chicago but who have to be in Chicago to work and who traveled to an orange- or red-listed state for work do not need to quarantine. Travelers who live in Chicago and who travel to a listed state for work do not have to quarantine, according to the order.
But if workers go to a listed state when they didn’t have to, or for medical care, or because of parental shared custody, they would be subject to quarantine.
People who work in Chicago and live elsewhere can do so if they haven’t traveled to a high-incidence state. If they have traveled to a high-incidence state, they are subject to requirements regarding essential workers who are Chicago residents.
For the purposes of the order, an “essential worker” is a person who works in any one of the 16 critical employment sectors. The term also includes any government workers traveling in their official capacities. Essential workers must:
Avoid any nonessential interactions until the quarantine period has ended. They must limit themselves to work-related activities and related functions, and avoid public spaces as much as possible.
Monitor temperature and signs of symptoms, wear a face covering when in public, maintain social distance, and clean and disinfect workspaces.
Avoid as much as possible extended periods in public, contact with strangers and large congregate settings.
What does quarantine mean?
According to the emergency travel order, quarantine means staying at one place for 14 days before doing any activities outside of the home. Included in the restrictions:
Not go out in public or otherwise leave home, unless seeking medical care or COVID-19 testing.
Wear a face covering and do not use public transit if seeking medical care or testing, or when traveling to or from an airport, train station or bus station.
Don’t go to the grocery store; instead have food and other supplies delivered.
Stay in separate quarters with a separate bedroom and, if possible, use a separate bathroom than non-traveling household members.
Travelers still must quarantine even if they had a negative COVID-19 test because people “can develop symptoms and become contagious up to 14 days from their last exposure.”
Advertisement
Are the rules different for each state or territory?
Generally, the emergency order is applied uniformly to any state or territory on the list. However, with neighboring states, travelers should pay close attention to what constitutes a visit and distinctions between essential and nonessential workers.
What are the state lists?
The following is a rolling list of states on Chicago’s red, orange and yellow lists. The lists will be updated every two weeks:
Red-listed states (11): Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Orange-listed states and Puerto Rico (36): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
Yellow-listed states (3): Hawaii, Maine and Vermont.
Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin, John Byrne and Gregory Pratt contributed.
Advertisement
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--State Farm gave big credits to drivers during the pandemic. Customers of Allstate, Geico and other i

State Farm gave big credits to drivers during the pandemic. Customers of Allstate, Geico and other insurers are now suing for larger premium cuts.

Each insurer offered some form of premium relief , but the suits allege it wasn ’ t enough to account @ @ @ @ @ .
The complaints compare the insurers to Bloomington-based State Farm , which in April offered @ @ @ @ @ credit for the weeks between March 20 and May 31 .

This April 7, 2020, file photo shows an Allstate sign in Northbrook, Ill. The insurer was among several auto insurers hit with lawsuits last week over the premium relief extended to Illinois policyholders during the coronavirus pandemic. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
Allstate and other large auto insurers are facing lawsuits alleging they failed to sufficiently reduce premiums to Illinois policyholders as more drivers stay off the road during the coronavirus pandemic.
Advertisement
In six separate lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court last week, Illinois policyholders allege insurers failed to provide “fair and appropriate” rebates and unfairly profited from high rates.
Advertisement
After Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order, many drivers stayed inside, and rush hour traffic on highways diminished.
In Illinois, miles driven by motorists dropped by nearly two-thirds in the spring, according to the suits.
Each insurer offered some form of premium relief, but the suits allege it wasn’t enough to account for the drop in claims. The complaints compare the insurers to Bloomington-based State Farm, which in April offered most policyholders a 25% credit for the weeks between March 20 and May 31.
The suit against Allstate alleges the 15% credit the Northbrook-based insurer offered for the months of April, May and June “falls far short of the relief that any fair and reasonable actuarial analysis would require.” Relief offered by the other insurers also was insufficient, the suits allege.
The suits allege the insurers violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. In addition to Allstate, American Family Insurance, Progressive, Geico, Erie Insurance and The Travelers Company are named as defendants.
“We are asking auto insurers to pay the appropriate amount — to reset the scales so that the appropriate amount is paid to policyholders,” said David Neiman, one of the attorneys representing Illinois consumers.
The lawsuits are seeking class-action status and aim to include all Illinois policyholders who have had policies with the auto insurers since March. Neiman said thousands of policyholders could join each suit.
Advertisement
The insurance companies named in the suits did not respond to requests for comment.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--One of the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing. Respiratory therapists help make it h

One of the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing. Respiratory therapists help make it happen, but the field is dwindling.

Even as they are needed to help COVID-19 patients , many respiratory therapists say people don ’ t understand their @ @ @ @ @ workforce is dwindling .
According to the National Board for Respiratory Care , more than @ @ @ @ @ year are for respiratory-related illnesses , with an aging population increasing the need .
Respiratory @ @ @ @ @ grow , but the number of people entering the field is shrinking , said board @ @ @ @ @ has even brought people out of retirement , she said .

Respiratory therapist Sandi Cooksey helps patient Nicholas Carrasco, who is not a COVID-19 patient, clear his lungs at Rush University Medical Center on July 31, 2020. Carrasco is on a ventilator, similar to treatment for patients with breathing issues due to COVID-19. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
They are the people who help patients awaken from sedation and take their first breath.
Often unsung in the COVID-19 crisis, respiratory therapists focus on helping people breathe — job duties include managing ventilation and artificial airways and assessing breathing challenges — and that means they play a large role in the treatment of coronavirus patients.
Advertisement
During normal times, their work ranges from setting up ventilators in a neonatal intensive care unit to helping someone who recently had lung surgery. These days, many are paged to help patients struggling with COVID-19, which impacts the lungs and causes issues ranging from shortness of breath to a need for a ventilator.
“This is a very respiratory virus, and causing the (respiratory therapists) right now to be the tip of the spear here,” said Rush University Medical Center respiratory therapist and associate professor Brady Scott. “We are constantly in these patients’ rooms.”
Advertisement
Even as they are needed to help COVID-19 patients, many respiratory therapists say people don’t understand their role. Meanwhile, the workforce is dwindling. According to the National Board for Respiratory Care, more than 125 million patient visits each year are for respiratory-related illnesses, with an aging population increasing the need. Respiratory therapist jobs are projected to grow, but the number of people entering the field is shrinking, said board CEO Lori Tinkler. COVID-19 has even brought people out of retirement, she said.
“I think it’s primarily an awareness issue,” she said. “Kids in junior high and high school, when they talk about health professions, they’re hearing about nursing, or being a doctor. They’re not hearing about being a respiratory therapist.”
In a situation like treating COVID-19, Tinkler said, “Who’s really taking care of you, who’s right there by your side, is your respiratory therapist.”
Kimberly Villanueva, left, takes part in intubating a mannequin with other students during a class at Rush University Medical Center on July 31, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Brady Scott, director of respiratory care, shows first-year students the process of getting someone off a ventilator during a class at Rush University Medical Center on July 31, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Scott said the field has changed in the decades he has been in it, growing from a more mechanical mastering of sophisticated machines to a holistic understanding and assessment of a patient.
“The profession has changed away from a technical-type profession more to a thinking-type profession,” he said. “Now respiratory therapists are required to be critical thinkers.”
Knowing the mechanical piece is still vital. At the height of the spring COVID-19 surge, Rush was using ventilators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Strategic National Stockpile, Scott said, which involved operating machines the respiratory therapists weren’t normally using.
“You can pretty much put any device in front of a good (respiratory therapist), and they will make it work,” Scott said.
The coronavirus forced the field to shift and adapt many practices, such as putting a surgical mask on a patient in case they expelled droplets during an airway procedure, or finding ways to keep some equipment outside rooms to limit exposure.
Advertisement
Scott said COVID-19 has been one of the more difficult things he’s experienced because of how sick patients were and how many patients they had. “We were learning each day about how the patients were different,” he said. “One patient in one room was a little bit different than the other.
“Frankly, the novelness of the virus made this a little scary, because you weren’t sure if you were going to get sick or not,” he said. “There’s always in the back of your mind, ‘Did I touch something I wasn’t supposed to?’”
For weeks during the spring, respiratory therapist Damon Myers, 27, would leave a shift at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and head to LondonHouse, where he slept in one of the hotel rooms the city allocated for health care workers who wanted to limit exposure to their families. He wanted to protect his wife, who was pregnant — they have since welcomed twins — and their 7-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.
About once a week, he would return to their Manteno home, sleeping on an air mattress in a different room. He wore a mask and kept his distance from his children and wife.
“I didn’t know if I was infected,” he said. “I didn’t want to worry.”
Still, despite the risks of staying in patient rooms for lengths often longer than doctors or nurses, the respiratory therapists said they love what they do. They are trained to make breathing easier. “They need help, you help them,” said David Vines, Rush’s chair of the Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences.
Advertisement
Scott recalled one recent COVID-19 patient experience that has stayed with him. He had assessed a man’s ability to breathe on his own, then suctioned his airways to ensure there were no obstructions. Finally, Scott removed the breathing tube. The man’s first words when he could speak for himself were to thank him.
“I didn’t think I was going to wake up,” the patient said.
abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Search for teen in Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor resumes: ‘It’s a recovery mission now’

A police spokeswoman , Sally Bown , said the marine unit was back on the lake about 8:40 a.m. after @ @ @ @ @ for a safe search .
She did not know how many officers were on the @ @ @ @ @ divers going in the water .

The Chicago police marine unit again was searching Tuesday for the body of a teenage boy who was believed to have been pulled under by strong Lake Michigan currents Monday afternoon near Diversey Harbor, officials said.
The teen, believed to be between 14 and 16 years old, was reported in the water just before 4 p.m., according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The boy was thought to have gone swimming with a few friends near the harbor.
Advertisement
“The lake is very high speed right now,” Langford said Monday. “And he went under and wasn’t seen again.”
Just before 6 p.m., the search was suspended, fire officials said, and the Chicago police marine unit was taking the lead looking for the boy’s body. Tuesday morning, a fire spokesman said the agency had no plans to resume searching, saying, “It’s a recovery mission now.”
Advertisement
A police spokeswoman, Sally Bown, said the marine unit was back on the lake about 8:40 a.m. after weighing whether conditions would allow for a safe search. She did not know how many officers were on the lake or whether there were divers going in the water.
On Monday, Fire Department divers searched in the water near 2600 North Cannon Drive. Divers couldn’t swim north because of the thrust of the lake, Langford said, and had to use ropes to keep from being pulled south.
A lakefront flood advisory and a small craft advisory are in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday along Lake Michigan from southern Wisconsin over to the Michigan shoreline, according to forecasters, with waves up to 10 feet and winds up to 25 knots possible. A special marine warning expired earlier Monday.
“No one should be swimming,” the department said in a tweet.
More divers going in checking new spot to search for teen who went under. Lake is very choppy with high winds. No one should be swimming. Very dangerous conditions pic.twitter.com/cCWPUtkK1p — Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) August 3, 2020
Check back for updates.