chicagotribune--2020-11-17--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 97 new deaths, 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases and 94,205

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 97 new deaths, 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases and 94,205 new test results

Illinois announced 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Tuesday for a total of 597,849 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 10,875 and 94,205 new test results for a total of 9.26 million @

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--2020-11-17--Ex-escort who allegedly obtained pandemic-relief loan while awaiting prison now back in custody

She had been scheduled to report to prison on Dec. 31 .
But in a court filing Monday , prosecutors @ @ @ @ @ revoke her bond , saying she lied on applications for a federal Paycheck Protection Loan @ @ @ @ @ federal fraud conviction or that she was about to begin serving a prison term .

A former escort convicted in $6 million fraud scheme was behind bars Tuesday after federal prosecutors alleged she illegally obtained a $150,000 pandemic-relief loan while awaiting the deadline to report to prison.
Crystal Lundberg, 34, was sentenced last year to 52 months behind bars for her conviction for racking up millions of dollars in charges — including trips, jewelry and even breast implants — after her onetime boyfriend gave her access to his corporate credit card.
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She had been scheduled to report to prison on Dec. 31. But in a court filing Monday, prosecutors asked a federal judge to revoke her bond, saying she lied on applications for a federal Paycheck Protection Loan and failed to disclose her federal fraud conviction or that she was about to begin serving a prison term.
Lundberg’s attorney was making arrangements to have her surrender at some point Monday, according to the prosecution filing.
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As of Tuesday morning, Lundberg was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal high-rise jail in the Loop, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show.
The $150,000 PPP loan, which was disbursed in September, was purportedly to keep a beauty salon Lundberg owned afloat during the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, Lundberg spent the money on trips, electronics, clothing and legal bills, according to prosecutors.
The FBI executed a search warrant on Nov. 5 on the bank account where the funds were sent, but by then the money had been drained, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Lundberg recently posted updates to her Facebook profile that made seemingly cavalier references to her impending prison term, according to prosecutors.
In one post in September, Lundberg allegedly wrote, “Honestly, I cannot wait to get this federal (expletive) outta the way so I can go back to being (EXPLETIVE) GREAT! I hate living within limits!!"
Last month, Lundberg posted a photo of herself in a bikini and sunning on the deck of a sailboat, clutching a cigar in one hand and a cocktail in the other, according to the prosecution filing. The caption read, in part, “I run it up to the feds come.”
Lundberg and her onetime boyfriend, Scott Kennedy, a former Buffalo Grove executive, were charged in 2017 in the credit card scam, the details of which the Tribune has previously reported.
In November 2015, Kennedy gave Lundberg access to a company credit card, authorities said. In less than two years, the pair racked up $5.8 million in charges to the France-based drug delivery firm Nemera, where Kennedy was a top financial official.
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Much of the spending came after Lundberg moved in 2016 with her children and pets to San Diego. The company unwittingly footed her $12,000-a-month rent for a mansion, according to evidence presented at trial.
While in California, Lundberg spent about $585,000 in a failed attempt to open a medical spa, called the Royalty Room. Additional expenses included two Rolex watches at a combined cost of $60,000, a personal driver for $8,000 a month and two purebred dogs that cost as much as $6,000, according to the prosecution.
She also flew to Miami in 2016 to have breast implants and liposuction done by a surgeon she found on YouTube, prosecutors said.
A federal jury convicted Lundberg of multiple counts of wire fraud in May 2019.
Kennedy was fired from his $175,000-a-year job as manager for Nemera’s Buffalo Grove plant after the fraud was discovered. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in 2018 and agreed to cooperate against Lundberg.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-17--College students are urged to get a COVID-19 test before heading home for the holidays, but even a n

College students are urged to get a COVID-19 test before heading home for the holidays, but even a negative result doesn’t mean they won’t spread virus

“ That ’ s not very convenient , but I think that makes the most sense , especially if you @ @ @ @ @ ’ s got comorbid conditions or is older who , when they do get COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ to get more severally ill or potentially even die , ” Segreti said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ of those things into consideration .
”

From requiring students to take COVID-19 tests before departing campus to restricting dorm access, colleges are tightening protocols ahead of Thanksgiving and winter breaks, when thousands of students are expected to journey home for the holidays amid a national coronavirus surge.
Public health experts say traveling, especially in airports or by public transit, is inherently risky when COVID-19 infections are high, and colleges are discouraging students from shuttling back and forth in the coming weeks.
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But concern remains that young adults crisscrossing the country might seed new infections in their home communities — or within their own households. Though schools with resources to conduct exit testing aim to address that worry, doctors say students shouldn’t rely solely on negative results. It can take several days after infection for viral particles to become detectable in a sample, research shows.
University of Chicago student Gabi Garcia, 19, has decided not to travel home to Portland, Oregon, for Thanksgiving because then she wouldn't be allowed to move back into her campus housing before January. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
For Gabi Garcia, a second-year student residing at the University of Chicago, staying in the city for Thanksgiving seemed to be a better option than flying home to Portland, Oregon.
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The university is ending in-person instruction prior to Thanksgiving and conducting the last week of fall classes and final exams remotely. Students living in campus housing are not allowed to return to the dorms until January, when the next term starts, if they go home for Thanksgiving.
Garcia, 19, said she is wary of travel and felt that completing her coursework at home, in a different time zone, would be too challenging. As a result, she plans to finish the quarter in Chicago and then fly home for the longer winter break because her parents want to see her and she misses the landscape of the Pacific Northwest.
Still, Garcia she said she’s nervous about traveling when the time comes, especially because her airline has started filling all of its seats instead of spacing out passengers. Though Garcia takes a COVID-19 test every week as required by U. of C., she said she might quarantine upon arriving home if the airport feels too crowded.
“If I didn’t absolutely have to be traveling I would not,” said Garcia, a classics and computer science major. “I would really rather not at all. I try not to go many places because I don’t want to risk anything.”
Yamonie Noy tests student Luis Sierra for COVID-19 at the University of Chicago. Students who decide to travel home for Thanksgiving won't be allowed to return to residence halls until after the new year. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Dr. John Segreti, an infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center, said students traveling home should check the infection rates for both their current location and their final destination. If they’re traveling from an area with higher transmission, they should quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, he said.
“That’s not very convenient, but I think that makes the most sense, especially if you are living with someone who’s got comorbid conditions or is older who, when they do get COVID-19, they are more likely to get more severally ill or potentially even die,” Segreti said. “People have to take all of those things into consideration.”
Some universities say they are trying to reassure communities and act responsibly by mandating that students leaving campus partake in exit testing. Others are offering it voluntarily or continuing to follow the testing programs already in place.
According to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, which is requiring all undergraduate students, whether symptomatic or not, to test before in-person classes end Friday, the strategy is being used “with the interest of protecting public health as students prepare to leave campus and return to the homes of their parents and families.”
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Students who test positive for COVID-19, or have had close contact with an infected person, can isolate on campus, be picked up and driven home by a family member, or immediately drive themselves home if they have a car on campus.
The school will close dorms Sunday, and they won’t reopen until next semester, Vanderbilt has announced. Students who need to stay on campus, including athletes, international students and housing-insecure students, must apply to remain in university housing.
The University of Notre Dame just outside South Bend, Indiana, is requiring both undergraduate and graduate students to sign up for tests on campus, warning that it will prevent those who don’t comply from registering for classes next semester or obtaining a transcript.
Notre Dame students must schedule a test before Saturday and remain in South Bend until a negative result comes back, the school has said. If they test positive, they cannot leave until the campus health center authorizes it.
But Segreti warned that even with these methods, there’s “no foolproof type of testing” unless students are assessed every day, which would be financially and logistically challenging for institutions. Not all schools procured enough supplies to conduct widespread testing due to shortages this summer.
Segreti and other health professionals have cautioned against the false sense of confidence that negative results can create. It takes two to 12 days for individuals to experience symptoms, and testing might not detect the virus if amounts in the nostrils or saliva are too low during this period, Segreti said.
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“I don’t see how exit testing can be all that effective because the negative test on the day you leave just means you’re not infectious on the day you leave,” Segreti said. “It doesn’t predict what’s going to happen in the next few days to two weeks.”
He acknowledged that testing could help identify some asymptomatic students but underscored that it won’t catch all positive cases.
Dr. Jeffrey Pothof, an emergency medicine physician and chief quality officer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s health system, said exit testing can be helpful as long as students understand the limitations, stressing that a negative result “doesn’t give you a free pass" to act recklessly.
Students should take other preventive actions to avoid spreading the virus over the holidays. That means limiting social activity with groups, wearing face coverings and social distancing as much as possible, Pothof and others said.
“If you plan on going home, you really need to buckle down for that two weeks before you leave,” Pothof said.
Based on lessons learned from the fall, Pothof said it’s possible college students traveling home from areas with high rates of infection could bring the virus to communities that have otherwise seen low caseloads.
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After students moved back to UW-Madison for classes, the virus spiked in areas of the state that hadn’t experienced high rates, perhaps as students commuted back and forth between campus and home, he said.
Carrol Banks gives instructions to student Chaya Halberstam before testing her for COVID-19 at the University of Chicago on Sunday. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
In Illinois in recent days, COVID-19 cases have spiked to levels not seen since the spring, hospitals are filling with COVID-19 patients, and public health experts are advising residents to stay home as much as possible.
With fall break less than a week away, the state’s largest university is ratcheting up its warnings about the risks of traveling.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is asking students who leave campus for the fall break that begins Saturday to remain away if possible, though dorms will be open for students who feel they need to be on campus.
As with other colleges trying to discourage travel, all courses will switch to remote delivery after break and finals will be conducted remotely so there’s no need to return until spring semester.
“We are entering another extremely dangerous period as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising extraordinarily rapidly in our community and state,” Chancellor Robert Jones said in a recent message to students. “Everyone needs to do their part to protect themselves and our community.”
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Though the school’s seven-day case positivity rate remains well below 1%, a figure buoyed by thousands of daily tests conducted with university-developed saliva technology, Jones told students that cases have risen following recent Halloween and football events.
The school is also seeing “a concerning increase” in cases tied to employees and graduate students, though Jones said they appear to stem from outside social activity and not transmission in the classroom.
In the days before break, Jones said students should not host or attend parties and that anyone planning to travel must limit their activities to attending in-person class, getting tested and visiting the pharmacy and grocery store. All undergraduates using campus facilities this fall are already required to test two to three times per week.
Students who return to campus after fall break must test as soon as possible and self-quarantine until results come back. After that, students must test every other day until the semester concludes on Dec. 18.
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-16--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Nov. 16 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Despite the high-risk nature of the surgery , some transplant centers around the country have begun performing the operation .
@ @ @ @ @ Chicago hospital has considered doing the procedure , though the transplant surgeon warned of its @ @ @ @ @ from across the country continue to come for Northwestern , which has performed more of @ @ @ @ @ than any other hospital in the world , Bharat said .

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)
Chicago’s health care workers will be first in line to receive coronavirus vaccines but there likely won’t be enough initial doses to go around, Chicago’s public health commissioner said Monday.
Dr. Allison Arwady, in an interview with CNN, said she expects Chicago at first would probably get about 150,000 doses, a figure that would not cover all health care workers in the city.
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“The problem is right at the beginning, there’s not going to be enough vaccine for you and I and friends and family to get it,” Arwady told CNN. “We’ll be starting with health care workers. We’ll be starting with people in long-term care facilities, some of the highest risk folks.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s non-mandatory stay-at-home advisory for Chicago takes effect today. Residents are encouraged not to leave their homes except to work, attend school, seek medical care, shop for groceries or pick up takeout food. Those who do go out are encouraged to wear a face mask at all times.
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Lightfoot also is imposing a 10-person limit on weddings, birthday parties, funerals and some social events in Chicago starting today.
Another advisory, similar to the city’s version, goes into effect on today in suburban Cook County and lasts for 30 days. Evanston officials issued an advisory stay-at-home order that begins today as well. Here’s everything you need to know about the advisories.
Illinois public health officials on Monday reported 11,632 newly confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, as well as 37 additional fatalities.
There were 90,612 tests in the previous 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 14.7%.
That brings the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 585,248 cases and 10,779 deaths.
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:10 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos says she’s tested positive for coronavirus
Democratic U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline said Monday she had tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home with mild symptoms.
Bustos, 59, who survived a closer-than-expected bid for re-election to a fifth term earlier this month, announced her diagnosis on Twitter, saying she has been in contact with her medical provider and is self-isolating based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control.
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“I am experiencing mild symptoms, but still feel well,” Bustos, who represents northwestern Illinois' 17th Congressional District, tweeted.
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
5:07 p.m.: Statewide teachers union wants governor to shut down schools
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker should shut down schools again and the state should develop a specific metric for when it’s safe for them to reopen, the head of one of the Illinois' largest teachers union said Monday.
Citing the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Illinois Federation of Teachers also wants districts to stop requiring teachers to provide remote lessons from school buildings.
Pritzker was asked about the proposal at his daily coronavirus briefing.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
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3:42 p.m.: Indiana COVID-19 hospitalizations at new record high; Lake County tops state with 598 new cases
Indiana’s hospitals were treating the largest number of COVID-19 patients on Sunday since the state began releasing public reports on coronavirus hospitalizations last spring, state health officials said.
Indiana had 2,768 coronavirus hospitalizations as of Sunday, a number that surpasses the previous peak of 2,634 COVID-19 hospitalizations reported Friday, the Indiana State Department of Health said in its daily statistics update.
The state’s coronavirus hospitalizations as of Sunday marked a 103% jump in Indiana’s COVID-19 patients during the past month, the data show.
The state’s District 1, which includes, Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties, reported 476 hospitalizations, according to the state, with 34.8% of ICU beds in use.
Read more here. —Associated Press
3:26 p.m.: Chicago singer Jeremih’s condition is improving amid COVID-19 battle, 50 Cent says
Singer Jeremih is “responsive and doing a little better” after being hospitalized with COVID-19, according to rapper and frequent collaborator 50 Cent.
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In a Sunday Instagram and Twitter update, 50 Cent thanked his followers for “praying for my Boy” Jeremih, who was previously admitted to an intensive care unit in Chicago during his ongoing battle with the illness.
The Grammy winner was among multiple music luminaries who wrote well wishes to the “Don’t Tell 'Em” hitmaker on social media after his condition worsened over the weekend.
Read more here. —Los Angeles Times
2:52 p.m.: Chicago’s health commissioner says there likely won’t enough vaccine initially, urges people to ‘double down’ on existing methods to fight COVID-19 spread
Chicago’s health care workers will be first in line to receive coronavirus vaccines but there likely won’t be enough initial doses to go around, Chicago’s public health commissioner said Monday.
Dr. Allison Arwady, in an interview with CNN, said she expects Chicago at first would probably get about 150,000 doses, a figure that would not cover all health care workers in the city.
“The problem is right at the beginning, there’s not going to be enough vaccine for you and I and friends and family to get it,” Arwady told CNN. “We’ll be starting with health care workers. We’ll be starting with people in long-term care facilities, some of the highest risk folks.”
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At an unrelated news conference, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot echoed Arwady and sounded a note of caution about vaccines, saying a mass-produced vaccine won’t be available until sometime deep next year and most residents won’t see one until mid-2021.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
12:10 p.m.: Advocate Aurora Health, one of the state’s largest hospital systems, to delay half of elective surgeries amid COVID-19 surge
One of the state’s largest hospital systems, Advocate Aurora Health, plans to delay half of its inpatient elective surgeries as the number of COVID-19 patients across Illinois skyrockets.
The system, which has 12 hospitals in Illinois, aims to reduce elective surgeries by 50%, for patients needing overnight care, starting later this week, said Dr. Jeff Bahr, chief Aurora Medical Group officer, during a call with reporters Monday. The hospitals will look at the urgency of procedures and how many resources would be needed to do them, among other things, in deciding which should be delayed. Cancer treatments will not be postponed.
“Any urgent or emergency surgeries that without doing would result in loss of life ... those would go on without delay,” Bahr said.
The system, which also has hospitals in Wisconsin, had 1,118 hospitalized COVID-19 patients Monday — a higher number than the system ever had in the spring. Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn had 162 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday.
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Advocate joins a number of other hospital systems in Illinois that have also started to delay some elective surgeries, including NorthShore University HealthSystem and Memorial Health System in central Illinois.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
12 p.m.: 11,632 newly confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths reported
Illinois public health officials Monday reported 11,632 newly confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, as well as 37 additional fatalities.
There were 90,612 tests in the previous 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 14.7%.
That brings the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 585,248 cases and 10,779 deaths.
11:40 a.m.: MCA to close temporarily due to COVID spread while other museums remain open
MCA Chicago announced Monday it is closing down again for two weeks as COVID-19 rates climb rapidly in Illinois and across the country.
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“The MCA’s building is temporarily closed for two weeks to support the city of Chicago’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19,” the museum’s website says. “We plan to reopen on Friday, December 4. Until then we invite you to access our digital offerings, including our featured exhibition ‘The Long Dream.’”
Other museums sampled, including the Art Institute and Museum of Science and Industry, were not immediately planning to close again, officials said.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
11:10 a.m.: ‘Immersive’ Van Gogh exhibit coming to new North Side venue in February, with COVID-19 precautions
A new North Side attraction will aim to place visitors inside the imagery of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, following on successful runs for the concept in Paris and Toronto.
“Immersive Van Gogh,” slated to open in February in a renovated former social club on Clark Street, will use digital projection and animation to envelop people in Van Gogh’s sunflowers, his nighttime stars and his bedroom in Arles.
In Toronto, the exhibition was able to open during the COVID-19 pandemic by at first making a drive-in experience into the building and then also mounting the show separately for visitors on foot in a different room.
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The Chicago February 11 debut will come as, apparently, vaccines are expected to be starting to be administered in the U.S. But at the outset it will feature circles projected onto the floor delineating safe social distances and it will require visitors to wear masks.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
11 a.m.: Loyola men’s basketball team pauses activities after positive COVID-19 cases
Loyola men’s basketball team announced Monday it has paused team activities after positive COVID-19 tests among team personnel.
The start of the Ramblers season start will be delayed. They were scheduled to tip off Dec. 3 against Drake at Gentile Arena.
Loyola did not disclose how many positive tests or identify those infected. The team said the positive tests were among the “team’s personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff.”
Read more here. —Shannon Ryan
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10:17 a.m.: Chicago City Council to consider capping delivery app fees
Delivery fees charged to Chicago restaurants by third-party delivery companies such as Grubhub and Uber Eats would get capped at 10% of the order’s cost while indoor dining capacity is set at below 40% during the coronavirus pandemic under a proposal introduced to the City Council Monday.
Restaurants for months have been complaining that delivery apps are cutting deeply into their bottom lines with fees that can top 30% of the order costs. With state rules banning indoor dining at restaurants, the delivery services are booming while restaurants struggle mightily to make ends meet.
Read more here. —John Byrne and Gregory Pratt
9:17 a.m.: Column: I took a COVID-19 test as a precaution. A week later, I was hospitalized.
I got the call on a Tuesday that my COVID-19 test came back positive, and my mind raced to two places: my kids and my heart.
My kids because I feared they, too, were infected. (How could they not be? I work from home, they school from home. Laughing, singing cheek-to-cheek dance parties are standard in our kitchen.)
The positive test was a shock. We’ve avoided crowds and restaurants and we always wear masks when we leave the house. My daughter and I got tested together because we planned to host three of her friends from school for a birthday celebration, on the condition that her friends got tested and we got tested. Neither of us had symptoms.
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Her test came back negative, but I worried it was false — that her viral load hadn’t reached a detectable level yet. I assumed my son, who was getting tested the next day, would also be positive. I assumed my husband, who was tested the day after my daughter and I were, was also infected.
But those tests, and two subsequent rounds, were all negative.
So I isolated in a spare bedroom, donning a mask and covering my hands in newspaper bags when I needed to emerge. My symptoms grew a little worse each day. My whole body ached. My head throbbed and my eyeballs pulsated. I would lose my train of thought mid-sentence and forget simple words.
Read more here. —Heidi Stevens
7:45 a.m.: Wisconsin has critical need for blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients
There is a critical need for blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients in Wisconsin, according to officials.
Convalescent plasma has been shown to be effective in treating the most seriously ill coronavirus patients, but the demand is far greater than the supply.
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Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin’s chief medical officer, Dr. Thomas Abshire, said the need for convalescent plasma in Wisconsin is about double the number of donors giving plasma.
Advocate Health Care transplant director Dr. Ajay Sahajpal says Wisconsin has already needed to import plasma from other states, but that might not continue as the shortage of donors continues elsewhere.
“For convalescent plasma, specifically, it’s a critical shortage,” he said.
Sahajpal is worried that as the holidays approach, fewer people will donate blood and that it could lead to a crisis across several medical fronts, the Journal Sentinel reported.
—Associated Press
6:50 a.m.: Chicago, Cook County, Evanston stay-home advisories go into effect
Stay-at-home advisories go into effect Monday in Chicago, suburban Cook County and Evanston, on top of a three-week advisory issued by the state last week.
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Chicago residents are encouraged not to leave their homes except to work, attend school, seek medical care, shop for groceries or pick up takeout food. Those who do go out are encouraged to wear a face mask at all times.
“If the possibility of 1,000 more people dying in the city in the next seven weeks doesn’t grab you by the throat as it did me when I started seeing that modeling, then there’s little we’re going to do to move you,” Lightfoot said last week.
Lightfoot also is imposing a 10-person limit on weddings, birthday parties, funerals and some social events in Chicago starting Monday.
Another advisory, similar to the city’s version, goes into effect on Monday in suburban Cook County and lasts for 30 days. Evanston officials issued an advisory stay-at-home order that begins Monday as well.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6:11 a.m.: Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine proves 94.5% effective in ongoing study
For the second time this month, there’s promising news from a COVID-19 vaccine candidate: Moderna said Monday its shots provide strong protection, a dash of hope against the grim backdrop of coronavirus surges in the U.S. and around the world.
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Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5% effective, according to preliminary data from the company’s still ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own COVID-19 vaccine appeared similarly effective — news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the U.S.
Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, welcomed the “really important milestone” but said having similar results from two different companies is what’s most reassuring.
“That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives,” Hoge told The Associated Press.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6 a.m.: Double lung transplants at Northwestern Memorial are allowing seriously ill patients to survive COVID-19′s ‘bomb blast’
At a dark moment over the summer, Rodney Wegg was forced to consider removing his wife from life support.
After testing positive for COVID-19 in July, Kari Wegg, a previously healthy nurse, worsened until she was placed on a ventilator and given a grim outlook for survival.
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“Give me some more time,” Wegg’s doctor told her husband, offering him and their two young sons a glimmer of hope.
Their perseverance paid off when, months later, Wegg, a 48-year-old neonatal intensive care unit nurse, awoke as the sixth COVID-19 patient at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to receive a groundbreaking lung transplant surgery, free of the disease and breathing with two new lungs.
The double lung transplant surgery for critical COVID-19 patients, which was first performed in the U.S. at Northwestern in June, has now been done seven times at the Chicago hospital by Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery and surgical director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program, and a team of surgeons. The surgery is considered more difficult than other lung transplants because of the damage COVID-19 has done to the organ, Bharat said.
Despite the high-risk nature of the surgery, some transplant centers around the country have begun performing the operation. And at least one other Chicago hospital has considered doing the procedure, though the transplant surgeon warned of its difficulties. Meanwhile, calls from across the country continue to come for Northwestern, which has performed more of these surgeries at this point than any other hospital in the world, Bharat said.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
5:45 a.m.: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issues new COVID-19 restrictions, banning indoor restaurant dining
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and suspended organized sports — including the football playoffs — in a bid to curb the state’s spiking coronavirus cases.
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The restrictions will begin Wednesday and last three weeks. They are not as sweeping as when the Democratic governor issued a stay-at-home order last spring but are extensive. They were announced as Michigan faces surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations statewide and rising deaths.
“The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice and we need to take some action,” Whitmer said at an evening news conference.
An order written by the state health department prohibits high schools, colleges and universities from offering in-person instruction. K-8 schools can continue with on-site classes due to lower transmission rates, though — as before — it is not required. Restaurants, now operating at 50% capacity, must halt dine-in service inside.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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chicagotribune--2020-11-16--Norridge, Elmwood Park police charge man accused of carjacking 64-year-old woman

The driver and a man in the rear passenger seat fled the vehicle after the crash and were apprehended by @ @ @ @ @ man in the front passenger seat had to be extricated from the vehicle , and @ @ @ @ @ Medical Center .
As of Friday , the front seat passenger was in the hospital @ @ @ @ @ Loughran said .

A man accused of grabbing a woman and throwing her out of her car evaded police for a day, but was arrested and charged Tuesday after crashing the stolen vehicle, according to Norridge police.
According to police, a man stopped the 64-year-old woman as she sat in the parking lot of a laundromat in the 7800 block of Lawrence Avenue on Nov. 9. He opened the door, grabbed her arm, and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t give him her car, according to police reports.
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Police say the man pulled the woman out of her car and threw her to the ground, causing bruising and scrapes. The man then fled in the stolen vehicle.
He was briefly pursued by an off-duty Cook County Sheriff’s Officer who witnessed the incident, but the officer stopped chasing as the man was driving recklessly and appeared to hit a guardrail on his way into Chicago, according to Norridge Police Det. Sgt. Brian Loughran.
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On Tuesday, Norridge officers spotted the stolen car on Irving Park Road and attempted to block it, but the driver swerved in and out of both lanes of traffic while traveling south on Harlem Avenue. Elmwood Park police officers tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver fled and crashed near Harlem and Bloomingdale Avenues in Elmwood Park.
The driver and a man in the rear passenger seat fled the vehicle after the crash and were apprehended by Elmwood Park police. The man in the front passenger seat had to be extricated from the vehicle, and was taken to Loyola University Medical Center. As of Friday, the front seat passenger was in the hospital with a shattered leg, Loughran said.
The other two were taken to hospitals but later released, according to Loughran.
The driver, Adam Torres, 30, of the 5400 block of Barry Avenue, Chicago, was later identified in a line-up as the potential offender in the carjacking. Police charged Torres with aggravated vehicle hijacking. As of Monday, Torres was in Cook County Jail with a bond set for $300,000. Torres was scheduled to appear in court Nov. 18.
David Renteria, 32, of North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, the passenger who was released from the hospital, was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to vehicle.
akim@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Daywatch: Pritzker’s new COVID-19 restrictions, CPS to resume in-person classes in the winter and a

Daywatch: Pritzker’s new COVID-19 restrictions, CPS to resume in-person classes in the winter and a gift guide for book lovers

Lightfoot officials said they would work with aldermen on projects , an olive branch of sorts to the City Council @ @ @ @ @ mayor is struggling to lock in 26 votes for her 2021 budget plan .
The @ @ @ @ @ signature spending plan to point to if she runs for reelection and a way to @ @ @ @ @

Good morning, Chicago. Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 12,601 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 97 additional fatalities. The news came as Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new targeted restrictions that will take effect midnight Friday. Here’s a breakdown of what will be open, closed, and different.
Meanwhile, Chicago updated its travel quarantine order, adding two states and D.C. to the orange list and knocking one off the red list. Here’s what you need to know to avoid a large fine.
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Also, on Tuesday the FDA granted emergency authorization of the first rapid coronavirus test that can be performed and developed entirely at home.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Few people are seen at State and Lake streets as the stay-at-home advisory begins in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Stopping short of another statewide stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday further slashed capacity limits for retail shops, and ordered casinos, museums and other indoor entertainment venues shut down beginning Friday in the latest effort to slow the aggressive fall surge of the coronavirus.
The measures come as hospital beds across the state continue to fill up with COVID-19 patients and public health officials once again worry about overtaxing the health care system. Right now, a quarter of hospital patients statewide have the coronavirus, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, and that number is expected to grow.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot puts on her mask after speaking during a post-election drive-up celebration at the 87th Street shopping center in the West Chatham neighborhood on Nov. 8, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot plans to spend $3.7 billion over five years on infrastructure projects across Chicago, under a plan her administration is announcing Wednesday. As part of Lightfoot’s proposal, the city would borrow $1.4 billion to fund projects over the next two years before borrowing more later.
Lightfoot officials said they would work with aldermen on projects, an olive branch of sorts to the City Council at a time when the mayor is struggling to lock in 26 votes for her 2021 budget plan. The move also gives her a signature spending plan to point to if she runs for reelection and a way to create jobs for residents.
A classroom sits empty at King Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020, the first date of the academic year for Chicago Public Schools. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Public Schools has 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.
The news came down just after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Tuesday that he is imposing more restrictions to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus — but reiterated that he’s leaving decisions about schools to local districts.
Theo Epstein with Chicago Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey (41) after the Cubs won the World Series, Nov. 3, 2016, in Game 7 of the World Series at Progressive Field in Cleveland. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
Theo Epstein’s legacy as Chicago Cubs president was sealed with their 2016 World Series triumph, a moment that forever changed the perception of the city’s oldest sports team. Hope became a four-letter word on the North Side, replaced by a win-or-else attitude in which nothing short of a championship was deemed acceptable.
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Jed Hoyer takes over the Cubs as they enter a ‘period of transition.’ Theo Epstein says his longtime right-hand man is ‘ready to make those decisions.’
In-person signings — such as this one in 2013 featuring former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman — are not possible at this time, but Anderson's Bookshop continues to stock autographed copies of books by a wide array of authors. (Gary Gibula / Chicago Tribune)
Need ideas for the book lovers on your list? We asked Chicago’s independent booksellers for their recommendations. Like many small businesses, local bookstores have struggled to stay solvent during the pandemic. So while you’re stocking up for the holidays, think twice before clicking that Amazon button. Shopping locally is a gift too.


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Column: I’m all for post-Trump healing. But if you called me the N-word, I’ll never forgive you.

No , healing is not on the agenda right now .
One day we might be able to live as @ @ @ @ @ we will never forget the many times throughout history that we were so far apart @

The White House is seen Nov. 11 in Washington. It is easy to blame Trump for the blatant hatred we’ve seen over the past five years. But he did not create it. It was always there. (Alex Wong/Getty)
Since Donald Trump’s defeat, there has been lots of talk about healing. But it is nothing more than talk. For many, healing is not on the immediate horizon.
That doesn’t mean that we might not one day be able to put the past behind us. But we won’t suddenly wake up one morning soon feeling as though the last four years never happened. Our nation is too badly bruised, and its wounds are still gushing.
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Some of the animosity has been personal and unnecessarily cruel. Some incidents have been more serious than others, but all of it is hurtful. Forgiving requires an overwhelming amount of grace that some of us have not yet been able to muster.
If you are one of those people who called me the N-word, the B-word or the C-word in an email or letter, I will never forgive you. In time, I will forget the horrible things you said. But I’m never going to reach out to you with an olive branch.
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I will not take the first step. Responsibility for your hatefulness does not rest with me. Haters must own their hatred if they are to overcome it. And so far, I haven’t seen very many signs that haters are ready to stop hating.
It is not incumbent on the target of hatred to reconcile with the hater. Nor am I the one who needs healing the most. It’s the haters who are rotting with vitriol.
I would be naive to think that some people aren’t going to react negatively to my columns. I believe in speaking the truth bluntly and, admittedly, sometimes abrasively. I realize that my truth is not everyone’s truth. I expect people to charge back, sometimes angrily.
Respectful and civil debates among people who disagree are healthy and often productive. Occasionally, someone convinces me that I am wrong. But once the discussion drifts into that dark place where name-calling and baseless accusations take over, it is useless. That’s when the “block” option comes in handy.
We could consider ourselves lucky if the only problems we’ve had recently were a few harsh words thrown at each other. Unfortunately, irreparable damage has been done to some. People have lost their lives. Their houses of worship, their homes and their businesses have been destroyed because of hatred.
And their faith in the goodness of Americans has been pushed to the limit.
When it comes to hatred, we have broken records. Hate crimes in the United States last year rose to the highest level in more than a decade, according to the FBI. At the same time, more people were murdered as a result of hatred.
There were 7,314 hate crimes reported in 2019, the highest number since 2008 — the year Barack Obama was elected president — when 7,783 were charted. Last year marked the third consecutive year that hate crimes due to race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation surpassed 7,100.
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The actual numbers probably are higher, federal officials said, given that local agencies aren’t required to report hate crime data to the FBI.
Three incidents will haunt us for a lifetime.
On Aug. 3, 2019, 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius allegedly stormed into a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and murdered 23 people and injured nearly two dozen others, many of them Latinos.
On Oct. 27, 2018, 46-year-old Robert Gregory Bowers allegedly carried out the deadliest attack on the Jewish community ever in the United States. He is accused of killing 11 people and wounding six at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
And on June 17, 2015, 21-year-old Dylann Roof walked into a Bible study class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed nine people. Three others were injured.
Ironically, the massacre occurred one day after Donald Trump announced his 2016 presidential bid. Weeks later while in jail, Roof wrote in his journal that he still felt he had done the right thing by killing innocent African Americans.
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“I would like to make it crystal clear, I do not regret what I did,” Roof wrote. “I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”
It is easy to conclude that America has increasingly become a hate-filled nation. But that’s not necessarily true. The growing numbers of incidents could mean that the hatred that long simmered under the surface simply came to light. People no longer feel the need to hide their hatred. They are more comfortable exhibiting it in the open.
It is easy to blame Trump for the blatant hatred we’ve seen the past five years. But he did not create it. It was always there.
While Trump did much to fuel the flames, he didn’t light the fire. We owe much of that to Sarah Palin, whose failed vice presidential bid 12 years ago attracted throngs of racists and bigots whose voices had been silenced since the 1960s.
Presidential candidate John McCain, who selected Palin as his running mate, refused to embrace these societal outcasts. But Trump saw an opening and exploited it.
I can’t count the number of emails I have received from people blaming Obama for turning America into a racist nation. When I ask them to explain, they can’t — or won’t.
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The election of an African American president did not prove that racism was gone from America, as some naively contended at the time. To the contrary, it eventually proved that America was more racist than many people realized.
The notion that Obama caused racial wounds is based solely on the belief by some that a Black man should have never been elected president. It wasn’t his place. He destroyed the natural order, and thereby, forced racism to rise.
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 >
As far as some are concerned, race should never be discussed openly. It’s not that it’s painful for them. It just makes them mad to hear people talking about it so much.
Every time I write a column about race, people flood my email box with complaints. I’m a race-baiter. I’m dividing the country. I’m playing the race card. I’m blaming Black people’s problems on white people. I’m trying to start a race war.
I chuckle at the race war accusation because white people — not Black people — have started every race war in this country. Each time, it was an attempt to stop African Americans from gaining ground.
Talking about race is uncomfortable for both white and Black people. The difference is that some white people would rather keep it hidden and pretend like everything is OK. Then they don’t have to acknowledge that they are part of the problem.
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No, healing is not on the agenda right now. One day we might be able to live as one in America, but we will never forget the many times throughout history that we were so far apart.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot offers details on proposed $3.7 billion capital projects spending plan

“ Our Five-Year Capital Plan is our latest ambitious campaign to invest in Chicago ’ s residents and businesses , @ @ @ @ @ our future as a premier global destination and the best city in the world to @ @ @ @ @ said in a statement .
“ By leading with equity , we are ensuring that @ @ @ @ @ driven by our historically disinfested communities , but brings our whole city closer together by @ @ @ @ @ and unlocking our full potential for decades to come .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot puts on her mask after speaking during a post-election drive-up celebration at the 87th Street shopping center in the West Chatham neighborhood on Nov. 8, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot plans to spend $3.7 billion over five years on infrastructure projects across Chicago, under a plan her administration is announcing Wednesday.
As part of Lightfoot’s proposal, the city would borrow $1.4 billion to fund projects over the next two years before borrowing more later.
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Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi said the city plans to balance more conventional, necessary maintenance work on bridges and other key infrastructure with complete street projects aimed at making roads more accessible for bikers and pedestrians.
Lightfoot officials said they would work with aldermen on projects, an olive branch of sorts to the City Council at a time when the mayor is struggling to lock in 26 votes for her 2021 budget plan. The move also gives her a signature spending plan to point to if she runs for reelection and a way to create jobs for residents.
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Most of the projects will require at least half of the staff working on them to live in Chicago and the contracting process “will place a high priority on using minority, women-owned and locally owned businesses,” officials said.
The spending would include $216 million as part of what’s called the aldermanic menu program, a fund that allows City Council members to fund certain pet projects in their wards, Lightfoot officials said. It will also include $164.3 million to complete funding for 23 bridge replacement projects, $66.2 million for 37 bridge repair projects, $16.9 million to rehabilitate 13 underpasses and $7.5 million to begin the process of improving vertical clearance at five viaducts, officials said.
In addition, the city would spend $250 million for residential and arterial street resurfacing, including the creation of so-called green alleys that improve drainage and sustainability, officials said.
Lightfoot also would spend $112 million for street lighting to replace 4,000 aging light poles, complete replacement of 300 blocks of lighting infrastructure, and strategic wiring stabilization repairs, as well as $28 million for the traffic signal system, officials said.
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More than $112 million would go toward various sidewalk repairs and the city also would spend $49 million on improvements to bike lanes, priority bus routes and pavement markings.
About $132 million would go to renovate Department of Family and Public Health centers, libraries and other buildings, officials said, and $162 million for the city’s fleets and IT systems.
“Our Five-Year Capital Plan is our latest ambitious campaign to invest in Chicago’s residents and businesses, and lays the groundwork for our future as a premier global destination and the best city in the world to call home,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “By leading with equity, we are ensuring that this success is not only driven by our historically disinvested communities, but brings our whole city closer together by literally building bridges across neighborhoods and unlocking our full potential for decades to come.”
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gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Man, 20, faces murder charge in West Side shooting, police say

Police said he was identified as the person who shot and killed a 25-year-old man on Nov. 8 in the @ @ @ @ @ Street in the South Austin neighborhood .

A 20-year-old man faces a charge of first-degree murder in a fatal West Side shooting earlier this month, according to Chicago police.
Alex Thomas, of the South Austin neighborhood, was arrested about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of West 77th Street in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, police said.
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Alex Thomas (Chicago Police Department)
Police said he was identified as the person who shot and killed a 25-year-old man Nov. 8 in the 4900 block of West Madison Street in the South Austin neighborhood.
In that shooting, Lavell Mathis, 25, walked through a vacant lot about 1 a.m. when another man approached him and fired shots, police said. The gunman left in a white sedan.
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Mathis was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and armpit, police said. He was later pronounced dead.
A judge will set Thomas’ bond during a hearing Wednesday, police said.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-18--Person found dead on CTA tracks in the Loop, police say

About 5 p.m. , a male was discovered on the tracks in the first block of West Van Buren Street @ @ @ @ @ train approached the male but was able to stop and did not hit him .
@ @ @ @ @ at the scene .

A man was found dead on CTA tracks Tuesday afternoon in the Loop, according to Chicago police.
About 5 p.m., a man was discovered on the tracks in the first block of West Van Buren Street, police said. A train approached the man but was able to stop and did not hit him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Police are investigating how he ended up on the tracks. His cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Mourning death of beloved street vendor

Mourning death of beloved street vendor

The holiday season is n't canceled !
COVID-19 can not stop us from getting gifts for all of our loved @ @ @ @ @ grandparents , single friends and even self-lovers .
Let our 2020 Gift Guide make your @ @ @ @ @ Our editorial staff compiled this report independently .
Tribune Publishing may earn a commission if @ @ @ @ @ one of the affiliate links .

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chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Mother of 4-year-old student accuses Chicago Public Schools of covering up security guard’s alleged

Mother of 4-year-old student accuses Chicago Public Schools of covering up security guard’s alleged abuse of her son: ‘I felt so heartbroken’

Williams said she first learned about the incident April 29 after the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services alerted @ @ @ @ @ case .
She said school officials denied her request for an incident report , and @ @ @ @ @ the Chicago Board of Education informed her it was conducting its own investigation .

The mother of a 4-year-old special education student in Chicago Public Schools has sued the Board of Education, claiming a Chicago police officer abused her son while working as a school security guard and that officials attempted to cover it up.
Shanece Williams alleges in a federal lawsuit that the security guard at John T. McCutcheon Elementary School in Uptown dragged her son down a hallway March 2, inflicting “severe emotional distress” on him in an incident she said she didn’t learn about for weeks.
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Will Wright, left, comforts Shanece Williams during a news conference outside McCutcheon Elementary School, where Williams alleges in a federal lawsuit that a security guard abused their 4-year-old son. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Standing outside McCutcheon on Tuesday, Williams told reporters she first learned about the incident in late April and was repeatedly blocked from getting more information on the case. Williams filed the lawsuit Sept. 24 against the officer and the Chicago Board of Education.
“I have so many unanswered questions,” Williams said. “When I first heard this news, my heart dropped. I felt so heartbroken. I felt like I couldn’t protect my baby from harm.”
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The Chicago Police Department said it’s not able to comment on pending litigation, though the agency is not named as a defendant. An attorney for the officer could not be reached.
Emily Bolton, a spokesperson for CPS, also declined to comment on the lawsuit but said “the district takes allegations of student harm seriously. The safety of our students is the district’s highest priority and we are committed to creating safe and supportive school environments.”
Bolton said CPS was “in the process of moving for termination against the employee when he submitted his resignation,” and that he will receive a “do not hire” designation.
Williams said she first learned about the incident April 29 after the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services alerted her it was investigating the case. She said school officials denied her request for an incident report, and about a month later, the Chicago Board of Education informed her it was conducting its own investigation.
She said she didn’t receive any answers until this fall, when CPS’ Office of Student Protections and Title IX sent her a letter Nov. 2 saying that, after investigating alleged physical abuse, it classified the matter as “substantiated.”
The letter stated the city’s Law Department would determine the level of discipline for the officer.
“I trusted that school with my child, and they allowed him to be abused and tried to cover it up,” Williams said. “How could you not protect a 4-year-old child? How could you not tell me what happened?”
The lawsuit also alleges McCutcheon officials refused to comply with DCFS, which launched its investigation after a mandatory reporter at the school reported the incident.
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CPS has long grappled with concerns over policing in schools, with education activists and board officials as recently as August pushing for a plan to phase out school police. Local School Councils at 17 high schools voted over the summer to remove their police officers, and 55 others voted to keep them.
As an elementary school, McCutcheon is not part of the student resource officer program, and the officer in question was working as a security guard there, CPS confirmed.
Williams’ attorney, Michael Jarard, said he doesn’t believe the case involving Williams’ son is an isolated incident in CPS, adding that “we’re going to make sure the community knows that they are trying to silence abuse in our schools and we will not stand for it.”
Jarard said Williams’ son had wanted to be a police officer before the incident, and the injuries he suffered were “mental in nature.” Jarard said much remains unknown about the incident, including why the officer intervened with Williams’ son to begin with.
“It has been six long months, and I still don’t know what happened,” Williams said. “No parent should have to fight this hard to find out the well-being of their child.”
Tribune reporter Hannah Leone contributed.
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kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Two more deaths of veterans with COVID bring total to 23 at Illinois Veterans’ Home in LaSalle

The state ’ s veterans ’ home at Manteno , near Kankakee , has also seen a surge in the @ @ @ @ @ With five more employee cases reported Wednesday , 15 residents and 28 staff there have @ @ @ @ @ have died , just since Aug. 21 .
The same home also had an outbreak @ @ @ @ @ point resulted in 53 cases and two deaths .

The coronavirus continues to run rampant through the Illinois Veterans’ Home in LaSalle.
Two more veterans were reported Wednesday to have died with COVID, bringing the total number of veterans’ deaths related to the disease to 23, officials said.
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The outbreak at LaSalle, which was first reported this month, also has resulted in 75 veterans currently testing positive for the virus, plus 48 staff members who are positive, with the state Department of Veterans Affairs counting 191 cases since March. The home is near Starved Rock State Park.
The state’s veterans’ home at Manteno, near Kankakee, has also seen a surge in the spread of the virus. With five more employee cases reported Wednesday, 15 residents and 28 staff there have tested positive, and two have died, just since Aug. 21. The same home also had an outbreak in May that at one point resulted in 53 cases and two deaths.
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Bridget Dooley, a spokeswoman for the department, said workers there were “devastated.”
In a statement, department administrator Angela Mehlbrech said the top priority remains the health and safety of the veterans and workers who care for them.
She said workers at the homes have been following recommendations from state and local health officials and continue to do health screenings of staff and residents, maintain social distancing, wear face coverings, use gloves and gowns, and perform thorough cleaning and disinfection.
“We are grateful to our team for remaining highly vigilant for signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and for responding swiftly, appropriately, and professionally to any potential cases,” she said.
The veterans’ home at Quincy, on the state’s western edge near the Mississippi River, was the site of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed more than a dozen people in 2015.
rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Mike Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded

Madigan ’ s main campaign fund paid nearly $ 462,000 in legal fees in the first three months of 2020 @ @ @ @ @ employs former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley , campaign finance records show .
In the @ @ @ @ @ Madigan ’ s campaign fund paid more than $ 445,000 for legal fees to different @ @ @ @ @ spokeswoman at the time said was to cover the cost of a $ 275,000 settlement @ @ @ @ @ , as well as ongoing civil cases and routine staff training .

Then-Speaker Michael Madigan works the floor as the Illinois House convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan will stand trial starting April 1, 2024.
Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering charges, then pleaded not guilty one week later through an attorney.
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[ The toppling of Michael Madigan: How his reign as speaker ended and Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch’s emerged ]
He resigned from the Illinois house and also resigned as chairman of the state Democratic Party in February 2021, after spending 36 years as House speaker and a half-century in the Illinois House. The embattled 79-year-old lawmaker released a lengthy statement on Feb. 18, 2021.
[ Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan pleads not guilty to federal racketeering charges in corruption case ]
What’s publicly known about federal efforts related to the now former speaker’s political operation stretches back to at least May 2019. Subpoenas or raids have touched lobbyists, legislators, private companies and members of Madigan’s political operation.
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[ Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan indicted on federal racketeering charges alleging array of bribery schemes ]
Gov. James Thompson, from left, poses with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Mayor Harold Wahington on Oct. 19, 1983, before their meeting on the Regional Transportation Authority. (Chicago Tribune)
Michael Madigan: The basics
Born: April 19, 1942, in Chicago
Early life: Attended St. Adrian’s Elementary School
1960: St. Ignatius College Prep
1964: Notre Dame, B.A., Economics
1967: Loyola University Law School
After law school: Held patronage jobs as a hearing officer for the Illinois Commerce Commission and as a public utilities consultant for the city, according to a 1988 Tribune story.
1969: Elected as a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention. Also elected a Democratic committeeman.
1970: Elected to the Illinois House for his district on the city’s Southwest Side.
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1977: Entered House Democratic leadership.
1983: Elected speaker of the House, holding the post continuously through January except for two years in the mid-1990s when Republicans gained control of the chamber. He was ousted from the position in January 2021.
1998: Elected chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. He stepped down in February 2021.
Family: Married to Shirley Madigan, has three daughters, one son and four grandchildren. His daughter Lisa Madigan was Illinois attorney general from 2003 to 2019.
Work: An attorney, Madigan is a partner at Madigan & Getzendanner, a firm that works in Chicago’s lucrative field of commercial property tax appeals.
Sources: Illinois General Assembly, Northern Illinois University Libraries, Notre Dame, Loyola University, Chicago Tribune archives
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Timeline of the federal investigation
Here is how the saga unfolded.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of home of 13th Ward political operative Kevin Quinn
This undated photo provided by the Evergreen Park Police Department In Evergreen Park, Illinois, shows Kevin Quinn. (Evergreen Park Police Department)
The feds raid the Far South Side home of former 13th Ward political operative Kevin Quinn — the brother of Ald. Marty Quinn — who was ousted by Madigan amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2018. Quinn received checks from current and former ComEd lobbyists.
[ Commentary: My sexual harassment case against Madigan’s camp shows truth can prevail ]
Mid-May 2019: Raid of lobbyist Mike McClain’s home
Lobbyist Mike McClain in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on May 6, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The FBI raids the downstate home of Mike McClain, a longtime ComEd lobbyist who is widely known as one of Madigan’s closest confidants. The Tribune exclusively reported in November that the FBI had tapped McClain’s cellphone.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of former Ald. Michael Zalewski’s home
Then-Ald. Michael Zalewski, 23rd, appears at Chicago City Hall in 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The FBI raids the Southwest Side residence of former Ald. Michael Zalewski, who at the time was working with Madigan to get lobbying work from ComEd.
Mid-May 2019: Raid of City Club offices
City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty listens during a 2017 meeting at Maggiano's Little Italy. The City Club confirmed it was served with a federal grand jury subpoena in what sources said is part of an ongoing probe into ComEd's lobbying practices. Doherty is a ComEd lobbyist. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Feds raid the City Club of Chicago offices in the Wrigley building seeking records pertaining to club President Jay Doherty, a longtime ComEd lobbyist.
July 12, 2019: ComEd subpoenaed
ComEd reveals in a regulatory filing that it was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the utility’s lobbying practices.
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Late July 2019: Feds investigating $10,000 in checks from ComEd lobbyists to Kevin Quinn
Records obtained by the Tribune reveal that checks went to Kevin Quinn after he was dismissed from Madigan’s political operation in early 2018.
Sept. 24, 2019: Raid of state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s home and offices
Federal workers carry evidence from the home of state Sen. Martin Sandoval on Sept. 24, 2019, in the Gage Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Federal agents raid the Springfield and Cicero offices and the Southwest Side home of the longtime Democratic state senator as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Oct. 4, 2019: ComEd subpoenaed again
ComEd reveals in another regulatory filing it received a second federal grand jury subpoena related to its lobbying practices, this time specifically requesting any communications with Sandoval and other unnamed individuals and entities.
Oct. 15, 2019: Exelon CEO resigns
Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of Commonwealth Edison, during a visit to S&C Electric in Chicago on Jan. 16, 2013. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Anne Pramaggiore, CEO of ComEd parent company Exelon Utilities, abruptly steps down after it was revealed the utility’s lobbying practices were under criminal investigation.
Oct. 29, 2019: Madigan comments
“I’m not a target of anything,” Madigan tells reporters at the Illinois Capitol. In a statement, he called for a review and strengthening of ethics and lobbying laws.
November 2019: Feds taped Madigan confidant’s calls
Federal authorities recorded Madigan confidant McClain’s phone calls as part of the investigation into ComEd’s lobbying practices, sources tell the Chicago Tribune. One of the sources said the recordings were made as a result of an FBI wiretap on McClain’s cellphone.
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[ ‘Keep all of this confidential’: How a powerful ComEd lobbyist lined up contracts for a disgraced ex-aide to Speaker Michael Madigan and why federal authorities are interested ]
December 2019: Questions about Madigan
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks after a House Democratic caucus meeting at the Capitol in Springfield on Nov. 12, 2019. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Federal authorities have asked questions about Madigan and his political operation as part of an ongoing investigation about connections between Commonwealth Edison lobbyists and Madigan, lobbyists giving contracts to people tied to the speaker, and city, state and suburban government jobs held by his associates, four people who have been interviewed tell the Tribune.
February 2020: Subpoenas in Merrionette Park and Bridgeview
A pair of federal grand jury subpoenas seeking records from southwest suburban Merrionette Park and Bridgeview name Madigan, his former chief of staff Timothy Mapes, McClain, Marty Quinn and Kevin Quinn. The documents also called for copies of state and federal tax records related to Raymond Nice, a longtime precinct captain in Madigan’s vaunted 13th Ward operation.
April 2020: Records show Madigan’s legal spending
Madigan’s main campaign fund paid nearly $462,000 in legal fees in the first three months of 2020 to a law firm that employs former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, campaign finance records show. In the final quarter of 2019, Madigan’s campaign fund paid more than $445,000 for legal fees to different firms, which a Madigan spokeswoman at the time said was to cover the cost of a $275,000 settlement with a former campaign worker, as well as ongoing civil cases and routine staff training.
July 17, 2020: U.S. attorney announces ComEd fine
U.S. Attorney John Lausch, right, announces a major fine against ComEd for bribery involving Illinois politicians during a news conference in the courtyard of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse July 17, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
ComEd is paying a $200 million criminal fine as part of a federal investigation into a “yearslong bribery scheme” involving jobs, contracts and payments to Madigan allies, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago announces. Additionally, prosecutors asked Madigan’s office for “any and all documents and communications” concerning AT&T, including contracts and correspondence related to the hiring of anyone to provide consulting or lobbying services to the public utility, according to a subpoena the Tribune obtained through an open records request.
July 23, 2020: AT&T subpoenaed
The Tribune reports that AT&T was subpoenaed earlier that year by federal prosecutors in the operation encircling Madigan’s political operation.
July 2020: Madigan subpoenaed
A federal subpoena to Madigan’s office shows investigators were interested in a wide range of information, including dealings with Walgreens and Rush University Medical Center, records related to Madigan’s political organization and private property tax appeals law firm, as well as former state lawmakers and current or former Chicago aldermen.
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Nov. 18, 2020: Four indicted
McClain is charged with bribery conspiracy and bribery in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury. Also charged are former ComEd CEO Pramaggiore; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, of Chicago; and Doherty, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
Nov. 19, 2020: Madigan responds
The embattled Illinois House Speaker releases a statement saying that if anyone at ComEd had tried to bribe him, “it was never made known to me.”
Dec. 2, 2020: Madigan confidant, three others plead not guilty
McClain, Pramaggiore, Hooker and Doherty plead not guilty to charges they orchestrated an elaborate bribery scheme with Commonwealth Edison to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
Jan. 13, 2021: Madigan ousted as speaker of the House
State Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside, waves as he gets a standing ovation after being elected the speaker of the Illinois House for the 102nd General Assembly at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 13, 2021, in Springfield. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
Emanuel “Chris” Welch is elected the state’s first Black speaker of the House after Democrats reject Madigan’s bid to maintain the single-handed power he wielded over the state for nearly four decades.
Feb. 18, 2021: Madigan resigns from Illinois House
Michael Madigan makes House resignation, originally scheduled for month’s end, immediate. — Rick Pearson (@rap30) February 18, 2021
Madigan announces his resignation from the Illinois House after representing a Southwest Side district for a half-century, the majority of that time as the powerful speaker, but remains chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Feb. 21, 2021: Madigan picks his successor
Edward Guerra Kodatt, 26, a bilingual outreach and budget assistant in the constituent services office run by Madigan and 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, is installed in the Illinois House seat that was vacated by Madigan.
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Feb. 22, 2021: Madigan steps down as state Democratic Party chair
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, previously party vice chair, takes over on an interim basis.
Feb. 24, 2021: Madigan’s successor resigns just three days after being installed
Despite the ill-fated Kodatt pick, Madigan gets another shot at appointing a replacement. The former speaker remains the 13th Ward Democratic committeeman and holds 56% of the weighted vote cast in the 22nd House District.
Feb. 25, 2021: Madigan picks another House successor
Angie Guerrero-Cuellar is sworn in after being chosen as the new state representative replacing Michael Madigan on Feb. 25, 2021, at the Balzekas Museum in West Lawn. Democratic committeemen in the 22nd House District met again to choose a replacement for Madigan in the Illinois House after the original appointee, Edward Guerra Kodatt, resigned three days into the job. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar becomes the second replacement in four days for the Illinois House seat formerly held by Madigan.
March 5, 2021: Former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo pleads not guilty to tax charges stemming from ComEd probe
Rep. Edward Acevedo, D-Chicago, watches votes come in on a bill on the House floor on Jan. 8, 2013, at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)
The charges allege Acevedo attempted to evade paying taxes he owed, including by depositing cash payments into his bank account to conceal the source of income. He was also charged with four misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return from 2015 to 2018. Acevedo faces up to five years in prison on the most serious counts.
May 26, 2021: Mapes charged with lying
Tim Mapes at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on June 30, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The former longtime chief of staff to Madigan is indicted on charges of lying to a federal grand jury investigating allegations that Commonwealth Edison paid bribes in exchange for Madigan’s assistance pushing though legislation in Springfield.
He pleads not guilty two days later.
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May 27, 2021: Former state Sen. Annazette Collins pleads not guilty to a new charge
Rep. Annazette Collins, D-10th District, at her district office in Chicago on March 13, 2012. (Heather Charles / Chicago Tribune)
An outgrowth of a case that arose from the ComEd bribes-for-favors scandal, Collins is charged with falsely claiming $31,830 in travel expenses on her tax returns.
Collins, who previously lobbied for ComEd, was hit with the new charge of filing a false tax return for the calendar year 2018 in a superseding indictment filed May 26, 2021 that added the allegations to a broader tax case.
She pleads not guilty.
June 2021: Former Ald. Solis made audio, video recordings of conversations with Madigan
Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, listens as fellow aldermen speak during a Chicago City Council meeting on June 27, 2012. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune learns among their discussions was a plan to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development. Though the land deal never was consummated, it’s been a source of continued interest for federal investigators, who last year subpoenaed Madigan’s office for records and communications he’d had with key players. At least one of them recently appeared before the grand jury investigating Madigan’s political operation, sources tell the Tribune.
September 2021: Dougherty texts Mayor Lori Lightfoot: ‘ComEd duped me’
Text messages, obtained by the Tribune through an open records request, show Dougherty repeatedly tried to downplay his role in the ComEd probe to the mayor in 2020 even after federal agents raided the City Club’s offices in the Wrigley Building in the spring of 2019.
Dec. 14, 2021: Acevedo pleads guilty
Acevedo, enters his plea to one count of tax evasion during a hearing via videoconference before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
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The plea scuttles a jury trial that had been set for Jan. 10, 2022.
January 2022: What’s next for the ComEd bribery probe?
The most remarkable thing about the Commonwealth Edison bribery probe in 2021 might be what didn’t happen.
March 2, 2022: Madigan indicted on federal racketeering charges
The indictment is returned by a federal grand jury after a more than two-year investigation, according to federal prosecutors. Among the alleged schemes outlined in the indictment was a plan by utility giant Commonwealth Edison to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists favored by Madigan in order to win his influence over legislation the company wanted passed in Springfield.
March 9, 2022: Madigan pleads not guilty
A week after he was charged in a bombshell corruption indictment, Madigan, is arraigned in a telephone hearing in U.S. District Court on allegations he ran his elected office and political operation as a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates.
March 23, 2022: Acevedo sentenced to 6 months in prison for tax case stemming from ComEd probe
Acevedo’s attorneys had asked for a term of probation, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly says his background as a former elected official and a Chicago police officer meant that people were paying attention, and a sentence of probation would seem like “this person got a pass.”
[ Michael Madigan’s indictment: How he pushed for allies to get ComEd jobs and his own daughter’s legislation was killed. ]
May 2022: Madigan knew about secret payments to Kevin Quinn, unsealed court filing alleges
The revelation undermines the storyline Madigan put out when the Tribune first revealed his longtime confidant McClain had lined up friendly utility lobbyists to pay Kevin Quinn thousands of dollars despite his abrupt departure.
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Oct. 13, 2022: Mapes makes first in-person court appearance
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Tim Mapes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Aug. 9, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Mapes, the former chief of staff to Madigan, walks into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse for a status hearing on charges he lied to a federal grand jury investigating the alleged ComEd scheme. He was the first of six people who have been charged as part of the ComEd bribery scandal to set foot in a federal courtroom.
Oct. 14, 2022: AT&T charged with trying to illegally influence Madigan, who now faces additional conspiracy charges
AT&T agrees to pay a $23 million fine as part of a federal criminal investigation into the company’s illegal efforts to influence Madigan.
Federal prosecutors also unseal a superseding indictment against Madigan and his longtime confidant McClain, adding allegations about the AT&T Illinois scheme.
Late October 2022: Tom Cullen, longtime brain in Madigan political operation, provided testimony for feds
The Tribune learns that Cullen, a lobbyist who played political point man for years on Madigan’s government staff, has testified before the ongoing federal grand jury looking into broad aspects of Madigan’s political world, which prosecutors allege included a criminal enterprise aimed at providing personal financial rewards for Madigan and his associates.
Jan. 9, 2023: Trial date is set
JUST IN: A trial date for Michael Madigan and Michael McClain has been set for April 1, 2024. The trial is expected to last for six or seven weeks, according to prosecutors. Initial Pretrial motions due by the end of next month. — Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) January 9, 2023
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The date for the six- to seven-week trial is set during a 10-minute telephone status hearing between U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey and attorneys in the case. Neither Madigan nor his co-defendant McClain were required to be on the call.
March 14, 2023: Jury selection begins in ‘ComEd Four’ trial
After about seven hours of questioning potential jurors in the hot-button case, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber wrapped for the day about 5 p.m., with a pool of just over 60 members of the panel told to come back to court for another round.
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March 15, 2023: Trial begins
Madigan’s photo became a focal point as the high-profile “ComEd Four” trial started in earnest at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where federal prosecutors said in opening statements that the long-serving Democratic boss benefited personally and politically from a scheme by the utility giant to funnel payments and jobs to Madigan’s associates.
In return, prosecutors, say, the powerful speaker used his position to push or block legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the utility.
May 2, 2023: All four defendants convicted of conspiracy in ‘ComEd Four’ trial
The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore (Chicago Tribune photos)
Found guilty of bribery conspiracy are: Former ComEd contract lobbyist Michael McClain, a longtime Madigan confidant; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; ex-ComEd executive John Hooker, and Jay Doherty, who worked as a lobbyist for ComEd for 30 years and served as president of the City Club of Chicago civic forum.
Check out the Tribune’s archives at your fingertips at Newspapers.com.
Sources: Court documents, news reports and Chicago Tribune reporting


chicagotribune--2020-11-19--Madigan confidant, three others indicted in ComEd bribery scheme allegedly aimed at influencing spea

Madigan confidant, three others indicted in ComEd bribery scheme allegedly aimed at influencing speaker

McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a law firm favored by Madigan — who was @ @ @ @ @ only as Public Official A — and to accept into ComEd ’ s internship program @ @ @ @ @ who resided in Madigan ’ s 13th Ward , according to the charges .

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.
Michael McClain, 73, of downstate Quincy, was charged in a 50-page indictment returned by a federal grand jury with bribery conspiracy and bribery.
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Also charged were former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 62, of Barrington; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, 71, of Chicago; and Jay Doherty, 67, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 85 Then-Speaker Michael Madigan works the floor as the Illinois House convenes at the Bank of Springfield Center on Jan. 8, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The indictment alleged that beginning in 2011, the defendants “arranged for various associates” of Madigan — including his political allies and campaign workers — to “obtain jobs, contracts, and monetary payments” from ComEd even in instances where they did little or no actual work. Madigan is referred to in the charges only as Public Official A.
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McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a Madigan-favored law firm and lawyer — previously identified in public testimony as Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson — and to accept into ComEd’s internship program a certain number of students who resided in Madigan’s 13th Ward, according to the charges.
Pramaggiore and McClain also allegedly took steps to have an individual appointed to ComEd’s board of directors at the request of Madigan and McClain, the indictment stated.
Arraignment dates for the four defendants have not yet been set.
[ Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded ]
The charges against McClain signal federal prosecutors have now cracked Madigan’s innermost circle and pose the most imminent threat to the speaker’s decadeslong grip on power.
Madigan, the state’s most powerful politician and the longest-running House leader in the nation, has not been charged and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Madigan had no comment on the new indictment Wednesday.
But the ongoing corruption investigation has now placed Madigan in a legal jeopardy that seemed almost unimaginable just a few years ago.
The federal charges come as Madigan is trying to convince House Democrats to give him another two-year term as speaker in January.
Foes contend Madigan doesn’t have the 60 votes he needs to win yet, but a strong challenger has yet to emerge. Madigan has received significant support for reelection as speaker from organized labor, a top financial arm for doling out campaign cash to help ensure loyalty among his members.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have said it was time for Madigan to step aside as state Democratic chairman.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, who has pushed a legislative investigation of Madigan that has progressed little, said Wednesday evening the new indictments show the state Democratic Party under Madigan “is a corrupt organization that has run its course.”
The indictment comes a year and a half after the Chicago Tribune first reported that the FBI had raided McClain’s home and almost a year to the day after it revealed his phone had been wiretapped by investigators.
McClain’s criminal defense attorney, Patrick Cotter, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the charges were “the result of a misguided investigation and misapplication of the law driven by an obvious desire to find some way to criminally implicate” Madigan.
“In its zeal to find any evidence of criminal misconduct by (Madigan), the government is attempting to rewrite the law on bribery and criminalize long-recognized legitimate, common, and normal lobbying activity into some new form of crime,” Cotter said in the statement.
The goal, according to Cotter, was to apply “maximum pressure on Mike McClain” in order to get to Madigan, something he is unwilling to help with.
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“Mike McClain cannot agree to allegations that are untrue, even to escape the crippling weight of the government’s attacks,” he wrote.
A spokesman for Pramaggiore struck a similar tone, saying in a written statement Wednesday that she “unequivocally rejects the government’s charges that she engaged in unlawful behavior” and looked forward to a “truthful accounting of the facts in this matter.”
“After enduring months of baseless innuendo and misinformation, (Pramaggiore) ... is confident a review will reaffirm her unwavering adherence to the highest ethical standards and finally put to rest the damaging speculation that any actions she took constitute illegal activity,” the statement read.
Doherty’s attorneys, Michael Gillespie and Gabrielle Sansonetti, said in a statement that Doherty was “just made aware that he’s been indicted” and intended to plead not guilty “because he is not guilty of these charges.”
Hooker’s attorney could not be reached.
McClain is one of Madigan’s longest and closest friends, and served with him in the House in the 1970s and early 1980s before McClain moved on to a lucrative lobbying career that included ComEd as a client.
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As he moved from legislator to lobbyist, McClain remained a staunch Madigan protector and became known as one of the few people who always had the ear of the notoriously reticent speaker, who eschews cellphones and email, and rarely holds public meetings.
In his latter years, McClain was known to camp out on a bench directly outside of the speaker’s third-floor Capitol suite that opens into the ornate rotunda, where he’d chat on the phone as acolytes and wannabes circled by to pay respects, report a secret move or gather strategy.
The indictment filed Wednesday centers around an alleged scheme that was first laid out in court documents in July, when the U.S. attorney’s office announced ComEd was being charged with bribery under a deferred prosecution agreement.
The company admitted in court documents that top executives — including Pramaggiore, Vice President Fidel Marquez and others — had conspired with McClain to make off-the-books payments to lobbyists and consultants who were close to Madigan’s operation in order to influence key legislation the utility wanted in Springfield.
ComEd and Exelon enjoyed considerable success at the Capitol during the last decade, persuading the General Assembly to approve a smart-grid overhaul in 2011 and a bailout of the nuclear power plants in downstate Clinton and the Quad Cities with consumers helping foot the bill in 2016.
Those wins, which were both specifically referenced in Wednesday’s indictment, took place under Pramaggiore, who led ComEd and was elevated to CEO of Exelon Utilities. Pramaggiore resigned abruptly last year after the investigation came to light.
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ComEd agreed to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate with investigators in exchange for the charges being dropped in three years.
Marquez was later charged with bribery conspiracy and pleaded guilty in October to his role in the scheme.
The new indictment also refers to several unnamed individuals either involved in or beneficiaries of the bribery scheme, including former 23rd Ward Ald. Michael Zalewski and former Ald. Frank Olivo, who was the hand-picked City Council member of Madigan’s 13th Ward. The indictment also refers to two precinct captains from the 13th Ward Democratic Organization.
The indictment alleged specifically that McClain and others arranged in 2018 to pay Zalewski $5,000 a month even though he didn’t actually do any work on behalf of ComEd.
The indictment alleged that Olivo — identified only as 13W1 — was paid $256,000 in consulting fees by Doherty’s company from December 2013 to April 2019. The two 13th Ward precinct captains were paid a total of $469,000 by Doherty’s firm from March 2014 to October 2016, according to the indictment.
While much of the indictment mirrors what was already spelled out in the ComEd charges, prosecutors have included new details about the alleged scheme, including emails sent to and from McClain regarding the hiring of Reyes’ law firm and the hiring of more than a dozen summer interns from a list of Madigan supporters.
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In January 2016, for example, when ComEd was seeking to reduce the number of hours paid to Reyes Kurson, McClain exchanged emails with Pramaggiore and Hooker making it clear how important it was to keep Reyes in their good graces.
McClain referred to Madigan in the emails as their “Friend,” with a capital “F.”
“I am sure you know how valuable (Reyes) is to our Friend,” McClain allegedly wrote. “I know the drill and so do you. If you do not get involve(d) and resolve this issue of 850 hours for his law firm per year then he will go to our Friend. Our Friend will call me and then I will call you. Is this a drill we must go through?”
McClain wrote he didn’t understand “why we have to spend valuable minutes on items like this when we know it will provoke a reaction from our Friend.”
Reyes could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The indictment also alleges that McClain, Pramaggiore and others schemed in 2017 and 2018 to get an unnamed Elmwood Park resident friendly to Madigan appointed to ComEd’s board of directors.
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According to ComEd’s deferred prosecution agreement, ComEd and Exelon did due diligence on the associate and found the nominee qualified, though no one had recruited him for the board and ComEd did not seek other candidates. The Tribune has identified that person as Juan Ochoa, a former McPier CEO who was appointed to the utility’s board but is no longer listed as being on it.
The indictment filed Wednesday alleged Pramaggiore assured McClain in a recorded phone call in September 2018 that Ochoa was a shoo-in for the appointment.
“You take good care of me and so does our friend and I will do the best that I can to, to take care of you,” Pramaggiore allegedly said on the call.
Other recorded calls mentioned in the indictment concerned ComEd’s ongoing consulting contract with Doherty’s company, J.D. Doherty & Associates. In one call from February 2019, Pramaggiore warned Marquez that he needed to “brief” other executives at the utility that there should be no changes made to the arrangement.
“We do not want to get caught up in a, you know, disruptive battle where, you know, somebody gets their nose out of joint and we’re trying to move somebody off, and then we get forced to give ‘em a five-year contract because we’re in the middle of needing to get something done in Springfield,” Pramaggiore said, according to the charges.
That same arrangement was also detailed in the ComEd agreement, which described several conversations between Marquez and others allegedly involved in the scheme.
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In February 2019, for example, McClain advised Marquez on how to communicate with other ComEd officials about renewing the consulting contract for Doherty’s company.
“I would say to you, don’t put anything in writing,” McClain told Marquez, according to the ComEd deferred prosecution document. “All it can do is hurt ya.”
A week later, Doherty told Marquez that two of Madigan’s associates had been put on his company’s payroll as do-nothing “subcontractors” and that ComEd should not tamper with the arrangement because “your money comes from Springfield,” the ComEd agreement states.
The new hires “keep their mouth shut,” Doherty allegedly said. “But do they do anything for me on a day-to-day basis? No.”
Doherty also warned Marquez that he had “every reason to believe” that McClain had spoken directly with Madigan about the deal, the document stated.
“(It’s) to keep (Madigan) happy (and) I think it’s worth it, because you’d hear otherwise,” Doherty told Marquez, according to the ComEd agreement.
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In all, prosecutors put a value of at least $150 million on the legislative benefits ComEd received.
The Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Dan Petrella contributed.
jmeisner@chicgotribune.com