chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as sourc

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as sources say CPS expected to announce all-remote learning plan

Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike , sources said .
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization ’ s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
Earlier in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arwady said she supported students returning to in-person classroom instruction this fall if the virus “ is broadly in control , ” saying that advantages to children who are around each other in school are significant .
Arwady also announced Puerto Rico will join the city ’ s self-quarantine travel list this Friday as she warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago , with households and social gatherings overtaking congregate settings like nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations Meanwhile , Illinois @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known cases and 19 additional fatalities , including a teenager in Cook County .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545 .
6:58 p.m. : Wisconsin-based Epic Systems ordering its 9,000-plus workers back to the office , though some workers fear ‘ untold deaths ’ Epic Systems is requiring its 9,000-plus employees to return to work in person at its sprawling campus outside of Madison by Sept. 21 .
The health software company is one of the first large employers in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the choice of working from home .
“ We do our best work when together , ” Ashley Gibson , a company spokeswoman , told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel .
“ And we are working to bring everyone back safely so we can do that.
” Epic workers decried the order , saying company CEO Judy Faulkner was ignoring public health advice , according to a statement made in conjunction with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union .
6:24 p.m. : Naperville ’ s two superintendents explain why remote learning was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from both Naperville-area school districts Monday defended their decisions to start the school year in September and to have all students do remote learning through at least October .
The changes were made weeks after Naperville District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges and Indian Prairie District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley presented a different approach to the return to class : a choice between learning online on a full-time basis or going to school on some days and learning from home on others .
Bridges and Talley , speaking to their respective school boards at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve received in the past few weeks caused them to switch the plans .
District 204 said state figures show that from July 15 to July 28 , the positivity rate for the region that includes DuPage County rose from 3.8 % to 4.7 % .
In the region to the south that includes Will County , the rate rose from 4.6 % to 6.3 % .
Both districts have schools in DuPage and Will .
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic , a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike , sources said .
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization ’ s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
The union ’ s governing body includes members representing schools from across the city .
College freshmen are facing unprecedented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But for 18-year-old Anicia Miller , who ’ s lived in public housing all her life , the overjoyed feeling she gets thinking about school still hasn ’ t subsided , despite plans to stay remote for the upcoming semester .
“ I still can ’ t believe it sometimes , ” said Miller , a St. Ignatius College Prep School graduate who plans to enroll at Harvard this fall .
“ To be able to say that I was able to just go throughout schooling and be involved in so many extracurriculars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be accepted into Harvard is just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I ’ ll have as a student.
” Miller was one of 150 soon-to-be college students celebrated Tuesday morning in a send-off for Chicago public housing residents .
The event marked the 10th rendition of the Chicago Housing Authority and its nonprofit Springboard to Success ’ annual celebration , which underwent major adjustments this year because of COVID-19 .
Students were given dorm room supplies meant to assist them in school , such as Chromebook laptops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Families picked up their packages from a distance in a drive-thru celebration .
The event “ means a lot to me , ” said Miller , who plans to major in biomedical engineering in hopes of creating prosthetic devices for children one day .
“ That still is great that this organization was able to adapt and ... congratulate the students and give them all the necessary things they need in college despite the circumstances.
” 5:13 p.m. : Setting up possible teachers strike , CTU plans to convene House of Delegates next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Union is planning to convene its House of Delegates early next week to consider a process that could lead to a strike if Chicago Public Schools doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
It ’ s not clear if the process would differ from the steps taken before the 11-day teachers strike last fall , but the union ’ s bylaws require a full membership vote to authorize a strike after the matter comes before the House of Delegates .
Educator unions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Teachers and American Federation of Teachers , have said they ’ d support local unions if insufficient COVID-19 precautions on the part of school districts lead to “ health and safety strikes.
” With CPS ’ final fall instruction plan due this week , it remains to be seen if the threat of a strike will affect the outcome .
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Tuesday that Democratic Gov .
J.B. Pritzker has dealt with the pandemic as “ well as anybody ” but has “ overextended himself ” as he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or action by the General Assembly .
Durkin , speaking at a virtual event for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale , also said GOP legislative candidates this fall will need to acknowledge President Donald Trump ’ s varying degrees of support in the state and focus on the ongoing federal corruption scandal and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan .
“ I agreed with him on it because I knew that the virus is for real and we had to see if we could stop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
But , he said , as restrictions began to be lessened in subsequent executive orders , there were things he disagreed with .
“ I just had a very difficult time understanding the logic of keeping a Target or Walmart open ” while “ small mom-and-pops couldn ’ t open their stores .
They were determined to be nonessential , ” Durkin said .
“ To me , that ’ s where the governor made a mistake , that we allowed these big-boxes to never stop operations at all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have found a common ground with the hospitality industry .
That ’ s where most of our jobs have been lost , in the restaurants , where people live ... week by week.
” 3:37 p.m. : Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren — as he ponders canceling the 2020 football season — is getting input from conference athletes via video calls Pac-12 football players penned an essay in The Players ’ Tribune under the headline “ # WeAreUnited ” to get the attention of Commissioner Larry Scott .
They are threatening a boycott @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — are not met .
Sources say Commissioner Kevin Warren has attempted to meet with two student-athletes from each Big Ten school by video conference — one football player , one from a different sport .
He completed some calls Monday and others Tuesday .
Warren clearly wants to get the pulse of players before deciding whether to move forward or pull the plug on the 2020 season .
That also explains why the Big Ten , which initially planned to release its football schedule Tuesday , will wait at least another day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that after Warren learned Monday of the COVID-19 outbreak at Rutgers — NJ.com reported that 28 football players plus “ multiple team staffers ” have been infected , forcing the team into isolation until Saturday — he reconsidered the conference ’ s next step .
2:40 p.m. : Is the coronavirus issuing last call for Chicago ’ s old school neighborhood bars ?
The closing two weeks ago of 34-year-old Guthrie ’ s Tavern , announced hours after the city said it would roll back bars ’ abilities to operate , may have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simple business model of offering a pint , a pool table and late night camaraderie has become particularly tenuous in the era of coronavirus .
Before restaurant groups , before cell phones and before Chicago transitioned from blue collar to white , neighborhood bars were core pieces of Chicago ’ s fabric , and they remain key to understanding the city .
They ’ re often far older than a neighborhood ’ s current character .
They are vehicles to the past .
But the COVID-19 pandemic — and the city ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justified or somewhere in between — threatens their futures .
“ Before the pandemic not having a food license and not having to deal with a patio was a blessing , ” said Gman Tavern manager Tom Cathcart said .
“ Now it ’ s a curse.
” 2:32 p.m. : Private schools in Naperville being deluged by parents wanting in-person classes for their children Since Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 announced back-to-school plans that included remote learning , there ’ s been a significant spike in emails and calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide this fall : daily in-person instruction in a classroom , officials said .
Patricia Bajek , director of student services for All Saints Catholic Academy , said admission inquiries at the K-8 school on Aurora Avenue were quiet from the middle of March to the end of May .
By July , when public school districts announced they would be offering a mix of in-person and remote learning , requests for information “ took off like lightning , ” she said .
The two districts have since decided all classes will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is starting her 29th year as a teacher in High School District 230 , and said she ’ s never been fearful about returning to the classroom , until now .
The president of the union that represents more than 540 teachers in the district , which operates high schools in Orland Park , Palos Hills and Tinley Park , said that for the safety of teachers and students the district should drop plans for a reopening that has students alternating between classroom and online learning .
She and about 50 other teachers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , starting at the district ’ s administration center then passing by the high schools with signs reading “ stay online until cases decline ” and “ go virtual no viral.
” 2:24 p.m. : Coalition works to expand payments for Illinois residents with disabilities , who have been hit hard by COVID-19 Monia Taylor , 64 , must decide whether her monthly Supplemental Security Income will pay for food or rent , but not both .
COVID-19 worsened the problem .
Taylor , a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for people in the disability community .
She has lupus , an autoimmune disease .
The group on Tuesday kicked off a campaign to push for an increase in Supplemental Security Income for Cook County residents with disabilities that group members hope will eventually be extended to all Illinois residents with disabilities .
There are more than 150,000 Cook County residents who receive SSI , according to the proposal .
2:10 p.m. : Pritzker says U. of I.
‘ s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available Gov .
J.B. Pritzker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with University of Illinois officials about making a saliva test researchers there have developed for use on campus more widely available in Illinois .
The saliva test developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be used for faculty and students before in- person classes on campus this fall , and differs from the invasive nasal swab that ’ s been much more widely used as the method for testing for COVID-19 .
“ We ’ re going to continue to ramp up testing across the state , make sure that that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heard that the University of Illinois now has a saliva test , ” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale .
“ We ’ re talking to the University of Illinois about how we might provide that across the state to other locations.
” The University of Illinois announced Monday that students and faculty participating in in-person classes this fall are required to undergo the saliva-based testing twice weekly , beginning later this month .
A day after announcing the launch of a mask awareness campaign that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with rising coronavirus metrics that indicate a resurgence there , Pritzker aimed his message in Carbondale directly at universities and colleges .
“ There ’ s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making sure that you ’ re enforcing a mask mandate , ” Pritzker said .
“ We have a statewide mask mandate , we ’ ve had one since May 1 .
There ’ s some people who don ’ t follow it , but on university campuses , it ’ s vitally important that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distance and then we make sure we don ’ t have overcapacity in this environment so that there ’ s a viral load that builds up in any given space.
” For years , the Open House Chicago architecture festival has lured thousands of visitors with the promise of peeking behind facades and getting a look at splendid interiors , like the soaring Art Deco lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade Building .
The Chicago Architecture Center , which runs the festival , announced Tuesday that this year ’ s event will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
” Unless plans change , there will be no interior tours .
As if to compensate for the loss of the event ’ s signature feature , the center will expand Open House Chicago to 10 days , Oct. 16-25 , marking the event ’ s 10th anniversary .
In the past , the festival was on a single weekend .
12:58 p.m. : Reputed mob boss Michael ‘ the Large Guy ’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guy ” Sarno says 10 years behind bars has reduced him to “ a senior citizen with severe medical issues , ” and he wants out of federal prison early because of the “ deadly risk ” of the pandemic .
A petition filed Monday seeks compassionate release for the 62-year-old Sarno , who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for ordering the bombing of a rival business in Berwyn to protect his illegal and lucrative video poker operation .
Big house parties and weddings , summer camps , concerts , crowded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks — Americans ' resistance to curbs on everyday life is seen as a key reason the U.S. has racked up more confirmed coronavirus deaths and infections by far than any other country .
The nation has recorded more than 155,000 dead in a little more than six months and is fast approaching an almost off-the-charts 5 million COVID-19 infections .
Some Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing , calling such precautions an over-the-top response or an infringement on their liberty .
Public health experts say such behavior has been compounded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by county , state and federal governments .
“ The thing that ’ s maddening is country after country and state after state have shown us how we can contain the virus , ” said Dr. Jonathan Quick , who is leading a pandemic initiative for the Rockefeller Foundation .
“ It ’ s not like we don ’ t know what works .
We do.
” The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million , with new cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While that 's down from a peak of well over 70,000 in the second half of July , cases are on the rise in 26 states , many of them in the South and West , and deaths are climbing in 35 states .
On average , the number of COVID-19 deaths per day in the U.S. over the past two weeks has gone from about 780 to 1,056 , according to an Associated Press analysis .
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 1,471 new known cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional fatalities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545 .
Officials also reported 42,598 new tests in the last 24 hours .
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.9 % .
Among those let go by the channel , sources said , are host Leila Rahimi and TV part-timer Laurence Holmes as NBCSCH is reducing its original programming , focusing on White Sox , Blackhawks and Bulls games and the studio shows that complement them .
“ Due to the ongoing economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the need to better position NBCUniversal for the future , we have made a number of difficult decisions to achieve cost savings , including eliminating some roles across the portfolio , ” NBCUniversal said in a statement .
Allstate and other large auto insurers are facing lawsuits alleging they failed to sufficiently reduce premiums to Illinois policyholders as more drivers stay off the road during the coronavirus pandemic .
Each insurer offered some form of premium relief , but the suits allege it wasn ’ t enough to account for the drop in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing .
Respiratory therapists help make it happen , but the field is dwindling .
10:15 a.m. : Chicago health commissioner supports students attending class in schools if virus under control Chicago ’ s health commissioner on Tuesday said she wants children learning in schools this fall “ if the outbreak is broadly in control.
” Dr. Allison Arwady warned that lots of COVID-19 spread in Chicago is taking place right now within households , but said if the city ’ s pandemic numbers look good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handle in-person learning safely .
” Where the child is at school wearing a mask with the social distancing , with the appropriate procedures in place , I honestly do not think the risk of spread is significant , ” Arwady said at her weekly news conference about the city ’ s travel list .
“ I wouldn ’ t be promoting this if I thought it was.
” The advantages to children who are around each other in school are significant , Arwady said .
” I ’ m a pediatrician , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are benefits for in-person education , especially for younger children who don ’ t learn well from screens , and all of the social and emotional benefits , and all of the other things we ’ ve talked about , ” Arwady said .
“ But it all comes back to what that local data looks like.
” Chicago Public Schools has told parents to choose by this Friday whether they want their children to learn in school as part of a hybrid model this fall , or stay at home .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases continues to rise , Arwady said “ I can ’ t say the risk is zero , of course.
” ” And again , the more our numbers are going up in Chicago , the more concern I have about this .
Because as our cases increase , the risk of people having COVID , especially asymptomatic COVID , does go up , ” she said .
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday , meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago , with households and social gatherings overtaking congregate settings like nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations .
Arwady said households are now “ 10 times the risk of any other exposures , ” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the virus .
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home , Arwady said .
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents , Arwady said Iowa , Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold .
If they stay under 15-per-100,00 for another week , they would get removed from the list , she said .
6 a.m. : Parents who want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a matter of choice , not politics .
‘ Students ’ mental health ... has got to be weighed . '
When Mairin Gradek ’ s local schools superintendent posted a cheerful YouTube video in early July describing tentative plans to welcome students back into the classroom , the Arlington Heights mother of three was excited that more remote learning was merely an option for parents , not the whole plan .
Gradek ’ s optimism that her neighborhood schools would reopen this fall was also buoyed by the results of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which found that around 75 % of parents supported either an in-person or hybrid plan , with remote learning trailing as the least popular option in third place .
But in recent days , District 25 joined a rapidly growing list of suburban school systems that have abandoned hopes of bringing kids back into the classroom at the start of the new school year .
“ In my naivete , I had assumed that I didn ’ t have to provide public comment on this issue , because it looked like my wishes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that e-learning would only be one of the options , ” Gradek said .
“ Parents like me are seeking at least some bit of in-person learning for our kids , so I ’ m still praying that the district ’ s decision will change.
” Now , with the start of school just weeks away , many parents say they feel like they ’ re part of a silent majority , whose desire to have their children back in school has been pushed aside by school officials who are buckling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a.m. : In search for COVID-19 treatments , consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir The pharmaceutical company that makes remdesivir — the only medication that has emergency authorization to fight COVID-19 — should also be conducting human trials on a related drug with strong potential , according to a citizen advocacy group that believes the alternative could be more effective , less expensive and easier to produce .
Washington , D.C.-based Public Citizen sent a letter dated Tuesday to the CEO of Gilead Sciences and top federal regulators , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work together to move forward with clinical trials of the drug “ or publicly provide evidence why it is not scientifically or medically feasible to develop this drug in parallel with its close analogue , remdesivir.
” Failing either of those options , the company should “ release permission so other researchers can pursue it , ” said Public Citizen health researcher Michael Abrams , who crafted the letter .
The nonprofit group , founded by Ralph Nader , has long advocated for greater corporate responsibility .
Officials from Public Citizen , joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggested in the letter “ there are significant financial incentives ” for Gilead to stick with remdesivir over the lesser-known drug , known only as GS-441524 .
Specifically , the patent on GS-441524 dates to around 2009 , compared with remdesivir about five years later , meaning that Gilead has exclusive rights to produce remdesivir further into the future .
Remdesivir is an expensive drug , priced at $ 390 per dose , which comes to $ 2,340 for each patient treated over the course of five days .
Gilead spokesman Chris Ridley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remdesivir was based on “ available evidence ” indicating that remdesivir generated more of a key virus-fighting molecule and was more effective against the new coronavirus than the other drug .
Here are five stories from Monday related to COVID-19 :

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike, sources said.
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization’s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday.
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Earlier in the day, Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to the city’s stay-at-home list for travelers, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive. Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady also announced that households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, Illinois health officials on Tuesday reported 1,471 new known cases and 19 additional fatalities, including a teenager in Cook County. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:09 p.m. (update): Puerto Rico added to Chicago’s travel list as city health commissioner warns of coronavirus spread at households, social gatherings
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago.
Households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations, Arwady said.
To underscore the danger of contracting the disease at a party, Arwady recounted a story she said a contract tracer heard about a woman attending her mother’s birthday party, along with her son, daughter, sister and niece.
“Everyone tested positive after getting together at the event,” Arwady said.
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
Read more here. —John Byrne
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6:58 p.m.: Wisconsin-based Epic Systems ordering its 9,000-plus workers back to the office, though some workers fear ‘untold deaths’
Epic Systems is requiring its 9,000-plus employees to return to work in person at its sprawling campus outside of Madison by Sept. 21.
The health software company is one of the first large employers in the state to no longer give employees the choice of working from home.
“We do our best work when together,” Ashley Gibson, a company spokeswoman, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “And we are working to bring everyone back safely so we can do that.”
Epic workers decried the order, saying company CEO Judy Faulkner was ignoring public health advice, according to a statement made in conjunction with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
6:24 p.m.: Naperville’s two superintendents explain why remote learning was their only option for the fall
Administrators from both Naperville-area school districts Monday defended their decisions to start the school year in September and to have all students do remote learning through at least October.
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The changes were made weeks after Naperville District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges and Indian Prairie District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley presented a different approach to the return to class: a choice between learning online on a full-time basis or going to school on some days and learning from home on others.
Bridges and Talley, speaking to their respective school boards at separate meetings, said information they’ve received in the past few weeks caused them to switch the plans.
Among the factors raising alarms was the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
District 204 said state figures show that from July 15 to July 28, the positivity rate for the region that includes DuPage County rose from 3.8% to 4.7%. In the region to the south that includes Will County, the rate rose from 4.6% to 6.3%. Both districts have schools in DuPage and Will.
“These numbers and this trend in a short amount of time gave us cause to rethink our plan,” Talley said.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
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5:55 p.m.: CPS expected to announce all-remote learning plan, sources say
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike, sources said.
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization’s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday. The union’s governing body includes members representing schools from across the city.
A city source emphasized the decision had nothing to do with a potential teachers strike.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone, John Byrne and Gregory Pratt
5:42 p.m.: Public housing residents celebrate students heading off to college despite COVID-19
College freshmen are facing unprecedented adjustments this year due to COVID-19. But for 18-year-old Anicia Miller, who’s lived in public housing all her life, the overjoyed feeling she gets thinking about school still hasn’t subsided, despite plans to stay remote for the upcoming semester.
“I still can’t believe it sometimes,” said Miller, a St. Ignatius College Prep School graduate who plans to enroll at Harvard this fall. “To be able to say that I was able to just go throughout schooling and be involved in so many extracurriculars and, really, just be able to be accepted into Harvard is just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I’ll have as a student.”
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Miller was one of 150 soon-to-be college students celebrated Tuesday morning in a send-off for Chicago public housing residents. The event marked the 10th rendition of the Chicago Housing Authority and its nonprofit Springboard to Success’ annual celebration, which underwent major adjustments this year because of COVID-19.
Students were given dorm room supplies meant to assist them in school, such as Chromebook laptops, and laundry and toiletry supplies. Families picked up their packages from a distance in a drive-thru celebration.
The event “means a lot to me,” said Miller, who plans to major in biomedical engineering in hopes of creating prosthetic devices for children one day. “That still is great that this organization was able to adapt and ... congratulate the students and give them all the necessary things they need in college despite the circumstances.”
Read more here. —Kelli Smith
5:13 p.m.: Setting up possible teachers strike, CTU plans to convene House of Delegates next week, sources say
The Chicago Teachers Union is planning to convene its House of Delegates early next week to consider a process that could lead to a strike if Chicago Public Schools doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday.
It’s not clear if the process would differ from the steps taken before the 11-day teachers strike last fall, but the union’s bylaws require a full membership vote to authorize a strike after the matter comes before the House of Delegates.
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Educator unions nationwide, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers, have said they’d support local unions if insufficient COVID-19 precautions on the part of school districts lead to “health and safety strikes.”
With CPS’ final fall instruction plan due this week, it remains to be seen if the threat of a strike will affect the outcome.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone and John Byrne
4:30 p.m.: State House GOP leader says Pritzker overextending his executive authority in dealing with pandemic
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Tuesday that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dealt with the pandemic as “well as anybody” but has “overextended himself” as he continues to use emergency powers without review or action by the General Assembly.
Durkin, speaking at a virtual event for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, also said GOP legislative candidates this fall will need to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s varying degrees of support in the state and focus on the ongoing federal corruption scandal and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Durkin, a 22-year House veteran from Western Springs, said he backed Pritzker’s early emergency orders, including the March stay-at-home order for workers deemed nonessential.
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“I agreed with him on it because I knew that the virus is for real and we had to see if we could stop the spread of it quickly,” he said.
But, he said, as restrictions began to be lessened in subsequent executive orders, there were things he disagreed with.
“I just had a very difficult time understanding the logic of keeping a Target or Walmart open” while “small mom-and-pops couldn’t open their stores. They were determined to be nonessential,” Durkin said.
“To me, that’s where the governor made a mistake, that we allowed these big-boxes to never stop operations at all,” he said. “He could have found a common ground with the hospitality industry. That’s where most of our jobs have been lost, in the restaurants, where people live ... week by week.”
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
3:37 p.m.: Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren — as he ponders canceling the 2020 football season — is getting input from conference athletes via video calls
Pac-12 football players penned an essay in The Players’ Tribune under the headline “#WeAreUnited” to get the attention of Commissioner Larry Scott. They are threatening a boycott if their demands — including revenue sharing — are not met.
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Big Ten athletes, meanwhile, recently have been getting a more direct line to the top of the conference.
Sources say Commissioner Kevin Warren has attempted to meet with two student-athletes from each Big Ten school by video conference — one football player, one from a different sport. He completed some calls Monday and others Tuesday.
Warren clearly wants to get the pulse of players before deciding whether to move forward or pull the plug on the 2020 season.
That also explains why the Big Ten, which initially planned to release its football schedule Tuesday, will wait at least another day before making an announcement.
And that’s not all.
Sources say that after Warren learned Monday of the COVID-19 outbreak at Rutgers — NJ.com reported that 28 football players plus “multiple team staffers” have been infected, forcing the team into isolation until Saturday — he reconsidered the conference’s next step.
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Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
2:40 p.m.: Is the coronavirus issuing last call for Chicago’s old school neighborhood bars?
The closing two weeks ago of 34-year-old Guthrie’s Tavern, announced hours after the city said it would roll back bars’ abilities to operate, may have just been the first sign that the simple business model of offering a pint, a pool table and late night camaraderie has become particularly tenuous in the era of coronavirus.
Before restaurant groups, before cell phones and before Chicago transitioned from blue collar to white, neighborhood bars were core pieces of Chicago’s fabric, and they remain key to understanding the city. They’re often far older than a neighborhood’s current character. They are vehicles to the past.
But the COVID-19 pandemic — and the city’s response to it, whether flawed, justified or somewhere in between — threatens their futures.
“Before the pandemic not having a food license and not having to deal with a patio was a blessing,” said Gman Tavern manager Tom Cathcart said. “Now it’s a curse.”
Read more here. —Josh Noel
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2:32 p.m.: Private schools in Naperville being deluged by parents wanting in-person classes for their children
Parochial schools in Naperville are being inundated by parents searching for alternatives to public schools for the upcoming school year.
Since Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 announced back-to-school plans that included remote learning, there’s been a significant spike in emails and calls from parents wanting what private schools can provide this fall: daily in-person instruction in a classroom, officials said.
Patricia Bajek, director of student services for All Saints Catholic Academy, said admission inquiries at the K-8 school on Aurora Avenue were quiet from the middle of March to the end of May.
In June, when All Saints began resuming in-person tours, 17 new students enrolled, Bajek said.
By July, when public school districts announced they would be offering a mix of in-person and remote learning, requests for information “took off like lightning,” she said. The two districts have since decided all classes will be done remotely through October.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
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2:30 p.m.: District 230 teachers demonstrate in favor of online learning when school year begins
Michelle Etchason is starting her 29th year as a teacher in High School District 230, and said she’s never been fearful about returning to the classroom, until now.
The president of the union that represents more than 540 teachers in the district, which operates high schools in Orland Park, Palos Hills and Tinley Park, said that for the safety of teachers and students the district should drop plans for a reopening that has students alternating between classroom and online learning.
“Right now, a lot of us fear coming back to school,” Etchason said.
She and about 50 other teachers took part in a car caravan Tuesday, starting at the district’s administration center then passing by the high schools with signs reading “stay online until cases decline” and “go virtual no viral.”
Read more here. —Mike Nolan
2:24 p.m.: Coalition works to expand payments for Illinois residents with disabilities, who have been hit hard by COVID-19
Monia Taylor, 64, must decide whether her monthly Supplemental Security Income will pay for food or rent, but not both. COVID-19 worsened the problem.
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“The poverty Black people and disabled people face on a daily basis didn’t start with COVID,” Taylor said during an online news conference Tuesday. “The virus just exacerbated the problem.”
Taylor, a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective, works with the organization to expand rights for people in the disability community. She has lupus, an autoimmune disease.
The group on Tuesday kicked off a campaign to push for an increase in Supplemental Security Income for Cook County residents with disabilities that group members hope will eventually be extended to all Illinois residents with disabilities. There are more than 150,000 Cook County residents who receive SSI, according to the proposal.
Read more here. —Sydney Czyzon
2:10 p.m.: Pritzker says U. of I.‘s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday his administration is in talks with University of Illinois officials about making a saliva test researchers there have developed for use on campus more widely available in Illinois.
The saliva test developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be used for faculty and students before in- person classes on campus this fall, and differs from the invasive nasal swab that’s been much more widely used as the method for testing for COVID-19.
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“We’re going to continue to ramp up testing across the state, make sure that that’s available. You may have heard that the University of Illinois now has a saliva test,” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. “We’re talking to the University of Illinois about how we might provide that across the state to other locations.”
The University of Illinois announced Monday that students and faculty participating in in-person classes this fall are required to undergo the saliva-based testing twice weekly, beginning later this month.
A day after announcing the launch of a mask awareness campaign that seeks to target areas of the state with rising coronavirus metrics that indicate a resurgence there, Pritzker aimed his message in Carbondale directly at universities and colleges.
“There’s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making sure that you’re enforcing a mask mandate,” Pritzker said. “We have a statewide mask mandate, we’ve had one since May 1. There’s some people who don’t follow it, but on university campuses, it’s vitally important that everybody follow it, keep their social distance and then we make sure we don’t have overcapacity in this environment so that there’s a viral load that builds up in any given space.”
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
1:41 p.m.: Pandemic forces Open House Chicago to shift to exterior and online tours
For years, the Open House Chicago architecture festival has lured thousands of visitors with the promise of peeking behind facades and getting a look at splendid interiors, like the soaring Art Deco lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade Building.
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This year will be different, a concession to the public health risks posed by COVID-19.
The Chicago Architecture Center, which runs the festival, announced Tuesday that this year’s event will offer exterior and online tours due to “the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Unless plans change, there will be no interior tours.
‘”We are not planing to coordinate or offer entry to any building,” Lynn Osmond, the center’s CEO, confirmed in an email.
As if to compensate for the loss of the event’s signature feature, the center will expand Open House Chicago to 10 days, Oct. 16-25, marking the event’s 10th anniversary. In the past, the festival was on a single weekend.
With access to interiors restricted, the event also will emphasize entire neighborhoods rather than individual buildings.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin
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12:58 p.m.: Reputed mob boss Michael ‘the Large Guy’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pandemic
Reputed mob boss Michael “the Large Guy” Sarno says 10 years behind bars has reduced him to “a senior citizen with severe medical issues,” and he wants out of federal prison early because of the “deadly risk” of the pandemic.
A petition filed Monday seeks compassionate release for the 62-year-old Sarno, who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for ordering the bombing of a rival business in Berwyn to protect his illegal and lucrative video poker operation.
Read more here. —Sophie Sherry
12:32 p.m.: As Americans resist COVID-19 restrictions, US nears 5 million infections
Big house parties and weddings, summer camps, concerts, crowded bars and restaurants, shopping trips without masks — Americans' resistance to curbs on everyday life is seen as a key reason the U.S. has racked up more confirmed coronavirus deaths and infections by far than any other country.
The nation has recorded more than 155,000 dead in a little more than six months and is fast approaching an almost off-the-charts 5 million COVID-19 infections.
Some Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing, calling such precautions an over-the-top response or an infringement on their liberty. Public health experts say such behavior has been compounded by confusing and inconsistent guidance from politicians and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by county, state and federal governments.
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“The thing that’s maddening is country after country and state after state have shown us how we can contain the virus,” said Dr. Jonathan Quick, who is leading a pandemic initiative for the Rockefeller Foundation. “It’s not like we don’t know what works. We do.”
The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million, with new cases running at over 60,000 a day. While that's down from a peak of well over 70,000 in the second half of July, cases are on the rise in 26 states, many of them in the South and West, and deaths are climbing in 35 states.
On average, the number of COVID-19 deaths per day in the U.S. over the past two weeks has gone from about 780 to 1,056, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
12:20 p.m. (updated): 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 1,471 new known cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional fatalities, including a teenager in Cook County. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545. Officials also reported 42,598 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.9%.
12:09 p.m.: NBC Sports Chicago scales back programming amid staff layoffs due to pandemic
NBC Sports Chicago is scaling back its programming and laying off employees as part of cuts across parent company NBCUniversal, encompassing all of NBC Sports Group’s regional sports networks.
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Among those let go by the channel, sources said, are host Leila Rahimi and TV part-timer Laurence Holmes as NBCSCH is reducing its original programming, focusing on White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls games and the studio shows that complement them.
Dropped programming includes “Sports Talk Live,” the channel’s roundtable show, which remained in production through the COVID-19 pandemic with panelists appearing from their respective homes.
“Due to the ongoing economic challenges caused by the pandemic and with the need to better position NBCUniversal for the future, we have made a number of difficult decisions to achieve cost savings, including eliminating some roles across the portfolio,” NBCUniversal said in a statement.
Read more here. —Phil Rosenthal
10:55 a.m.: Allstate, Geico, Progressive among auto insurers hit with lawsuits over coronavirus relief
Allstate and other large auto insurers are facing lawsuits alleging they failed to sufficiently reduce premiums to Illinois policyholders as more drivers stay off the road during the coronavirus pandemic.
In six separate lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court last week, Illinois policyholders allege insurers failed to provide “fair and appropriate” rebates and unfairly profited from high rates.
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After Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order, many drivers stayed inside, and the rush hour traffic on highways diminished.
In Illinois, miles driven by motorists dropped by nearly two-thirds in the spring, according to the suits.
Each insurer offered some form of premium relief, but the suits allege it wasn’t enough to account for the drop in claims.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
10:30 a.m.: One of the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing. Respiratory therapists help make it happen, but the field is dwindling.
They are the people who help patients awaken from sedation and take their first breath.
Often unsung in the COVID-19 crisis, respiratory therapists focus on helping people breathe — job duties include managing ventilation and artificial airways and assessing breathing challenges — and that means they play a large role in the treatment of coronavirus patients.
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During normal times, their work ranges from setting up ventilators in a neonatal intensive care unit to helping someone who recently had lung surgery. These days, many are paged to help patients struggling with COVID-19, which impacts the lungs and causes issues ranging from shortness of breath to a need for a ventilator.
“This is a very respiratory virus, and causing the (respiratory therapists) right now to be the tip of the spear here,” said Rush University Medical Center respiratory therapist and associate professor Brady Scott. “We are constantly in these patients’ rooms.”
Even as they are needed to help COVID-19 patients, many respiratory therapists say people don’t understand their role. Meanwhile, the workforce is dwindling. According to the National Board for Respiratory Care, more than 125 million patient visits each year are for respiratory-related illnesses, with an aging population increasing the need. Respiratory therapist jobs are projected to grow, but the number of people entering the field is shrinking, said board CEO Lori Tinkler. COVID-19 has even brought people out of retirement, she said.
Read more here. —Alison Bowen
10:15 a.m.: Chicago health commissioner supports students attending class in schools if virus under control
Chicago’s health commissioner on Tuesday said she wants children learning in schools this fall “if the outbreak is broadly in control.”
Dr. Allison Arwady warned that lots of COVID-19 spread in Chicago is taking place right now within households, but said if the city’s pandemic numbers look good, she feels Chicago Public Schools can handle in-person learning safely.
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”Where the child is at school wearing a mask with the social distancing, with the appropriate procedures in place, I honestly do not think the risk of spread is significant,” Arwady said at her weekly news conference about the city’s travel list. “I wouldn’t be promoting this if I thought it was.”
The advantages to children who are around each other in school are significant, Arwady said.
”I’m a pediatrician, and I feel pretty strongly that there are benefits for in-person education, especially for younger children who don’t learn well from screens, and all of the social and emotional benefits, and all of the other things we’ve talked about,” Arwady said. “But it all comes back to what that local data looks like.”
Chicago Public Schools has told parents to choose by this Friday whether they want their children to learn in school as part of a hybrid model this fall, or stay at home.
As Chicago’s positivity rate for coronavirus cases continues to rise, Arwady said “I can’t say the risk is zero, of course.”
”And again, the more our numbers are going up in Chicago, the more concern I have about this. Because as our cases increase, the risk of people having COVID, especially asymptomatic COVID, does go up,” she said.
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—John Byrne
9:30 a.m.: Puerto Rico added to city’s emergency travel order
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago, with households and social gatherings overtaking congregate settings like nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations.
[ Traveling outside Illinois? Chicago residents must quarantine after visiting some places. Here’s what you need to know to avoid a large fine. ]
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home, Arwady said.
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents, Arwady said Iowa, Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold. If they stay under 15-per-100,00 for another week, they would get removed from the list, she said.
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—John Byrne
6 a.m.: Parents who want schools to reopen this fall say it’s a matter of choice, not politics. ‘Students’ mental health ... has got to be weighed.'
When Mairin Gradek’s local schools superintendent posted a cheerful YouTube video in early July describing tentative plans to welcome students back into the classroom, the Arlington Heights mother of three was excited that more remote learning was merely an option for parents, not the whole plan.
Gradek’s optimism that her neighborhood schools would reopen this fall was also buoyed by the results of a recent School District 25 survey, which found that around 75% of parents supported either an in-person or hybrid plan, with remote learning trailing as the least popular option in third place.
But in recent days, District 25 joined a rapidly growing list of suburban school systems that have abandoned hopes of bringing kids back into the classroom at the start of the new school year.
“In my naivete, I had assumed that I didn’t have to provide public comment on this issue, because it looked like my wishes for schools to reopen were being served, and that e-learning would only be one of the options,” Gradek said. “Parents like me are seeking at least some bit of in-person learning for our kids, so I’m still praying that the district’s decision will change.”
Now, with the start of school just weeks away, many parents say they feel like they’re part of a silent majority, whose desire to have their children back in school has been pushed aside by school officials who are buckling to pressure from teachers unions.
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Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
6 a.m.: In search for COVID-19 treatments, consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir
The pharmaceutical company that makes remdesivir — the only medication that has emergency authorization to fight COVID-19 — should also be conducting human trials on a related drug with strong potential, according to a citizen advocacy group that believes the alternative could be more effective, less expensive and easier to produce.
Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen sent a letter dated Tuesday to the CEO of Gilead Sciences and top federal regulators, urging the company and the government to work together to move forward with clinical trials of the drug “or publicly provide evidence why it is not scientifically or medically feasible to develop this drug in parallel with its close analogue, remdesivir.”
Failing either of those options, the company should “release permission so other researchers can pursue it,” said Public Citizen health researcher Michael Abrams, who crafted the letter. The nonprofit group, founded by Ralph Nader, has long advocated for greater corporate responsibility.
Officials from Public Citizen, joined by two drug researchers from Texas, suggested in the letter “there are significant financial incentives” for Gilead to stick with remdesivir over the lesser-known drug, known only as GS-441524.
Specifically, the patent on GS-441524 dates to around 2009, compared with remdesivir about five years later, meaning that Gilead has exclusive rights to produce remdesivir further into the future. Remdesivir is an expensive drug, priced at $390 per dose, which comes to $2,340 for each patient treated over the course of five days.
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Gilead spokesman Chris Ridley said the decision to move forward with remdesivir was based on “available evidence” indicating that remdesivir generated more of a key virus-fighting molecule and was more effective against the new coronavirus than the other drug.
Read more here. —Hal Dardick
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five stories from Monday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Community leaders vow to carry on work of slain activist Caleb Reed, and will press his high school

Community leaders vow to carry on work of slain activist Caleb Reed, and will press his high school to remove Chicago cops

“ If you were about what Caleb was about , and you believe what he was fighting for , you @ @ @ @ @ meeting and you should make sure that they know that we don ’ t want @ @ @ @ @ officers in those schools , ” Ald .
Andre Vasquez , 40th , said .

Jasmine Bradley, left, comforts her brother, Jermaine Pleasant, during a gathering outside Mather High School in Chicago, Aug. 4, 2020, to remember their brother, slain teen activist Caleb Reed. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Community leaders gathered outside Mather High School on Tuesday afternoon to remember slain activist Caleb Reed and make a promise: that the work of the 17-year-old will not be in vain.
They called on people to turn out when the local council at Mather, where Reed was a student, meets next week to decide whether to remove police officers from the West Rogers Park school.
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In the weeks before he was shot to death, Reed had called for money spent on school policing to be diverted to mental health and other services for students.
“If you were about what Caleb was about, and you believe what he was fighting for, you should be at the LSC meeting and you should make sure that they know that we don’t want to see any more police officers in those schools,” Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, said.
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Another alderman, Roderick Sawyer, 6th, said he had worked closely with Reed and other members of Voices of Youth in Chicago Education on trying to end the $33 million contract between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department.
Sawyer said it was Reed’s own story of being detained for not having an ID at a school basketball game that motivated him to join VOYCE in their fight.
“He was the driving force that convinced me that this was the right thing to do,” Sawyer said. “And he’ll forever be ingrained in my mind as someone that I look up to.
“This young man — he spoke his truth,” the alderman added. “He was adamant, he was consistent and he wasn’t going to give up.”
Fellow youth leaders said Reed was determined to provide Black and brown children with more mental health resources and saw the reallocation of funds spent on school officers as a necessary first step.
From a young age, Reed saw the lack of health and social services as root causes of violence in his community, according to his peers.
“The taking of Caleb’s life, and others killed, is senseless and preventable,” said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago. “If we’d only listened to Caleb and pushed to help people hurting in this city.”
Reed was found on a sidewalk last Friday afternoon in the 1900 block of West Granville Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. He died Sunday morning. Police have announced no arrests.
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Family members and friends fought through tears as they spoke about the impact Reed had in their lives.
Derrianna Ford, a student at Mather and a member of VOYCE, was Reed’s girlfriend for the past three years.
“He was too kind for this world, too nice, too caring,” Ford said. “When I graduate, I’m going to make sure I do it for him. Because we couldn’t wait to walk that stage, we couldn’t wait.”
ssherry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Man stabbed 3 at Worth home before killing himself in ‘murder-suicide,’ police say

Denton said it was possible the attack was premeditated , but that the multiple kitchen knives he used were easily @ @ @ @ @ did not belong to him .

A 27-year-old man stabbed three people at a home in Worth Friday before turning the knife on himself in what police described as a murder-suicide.
Kyle Palakaitis, of Oak Lawn, had been helping clean up for a party at an acquaintance’s home in the 7400 block of 114th Place when he attacked the man with a kitchen knife, police Chief Tim Denton said.
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When police responded to the home at about 2:22 p.m., they found the victim, 56-year-old Robert Schadt, dead inside with multiple stab wounds and three others, including Palakaitis, injured, the chief said.
Officers attempted life-saving measures on Palakaitis, who suffered a self-inflicted stab wound to his chest, but he died of his injuries at the scene, Denton said.
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The other two victims were treated for their injuries at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and released, police said.
Denton identified one surviving victim as the mother of Palakaitis’ girlfriend and the other as a male acquaintance.
He said Schadt was the ex-husband of the female victim.
Palakaitis’ girlfriend declined comment when reached by phone Tuesday.
She posted Facebook tributes to both Schadt, whom she called a “great father figure,” and Palakaitis, “for being a great father” to their young son.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you,” she wrote to Palakaitis in a post that stressed the importance of mental health awareness. “We will always remember you and miss you like crazy.”
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Police have not been able to establish any clear motive for the attack, which occurred several hours after Palakaitis arrived at the home.
His blood toxicology report is pending.
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Denton said it was possible the attack was premeditated, but that the multiple kitchen knives he used were easily accessible inside the home and did not belong to him.
The chief said police had not previously responded to any calls for service at Schadt’s home regarding Palakaitis.
According to an online obituary, Palakaitis had a son and a daughter on the way.
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter @ZakKoeske


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--2nd man charged with being gunman in July 4 shooting ambush that killed 7-year-old Natalia Wallace

Natalia was shot in the forehead and taken to Stroger Hospital , where she died .
She was going to @ @ @ @ @ Community Academy of Fine Arts in the fall .
A 32-year-old man was also shot @ @ @ @ @ , and identified all three shooters for police , prosecutors said .

Nine-year-old Nathan Wallace holds balloons during a vigil July 5, 2020, for his 7-year-old sister Natalia Wallace, who was shot and killed as her family gathered to celebrate the July Fourth holiday in the South Austin neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The second of three gunmen who fired shots on a West Side block over the July Fourth holiday, killing 7-year-old Natalia Wallace, was held without bail on first-degree murder charges Tuesday.
Terrell Boyd, 30, was captured on video and identified by a surviving witness as one of the men who opened fire toward Natalia and a group of neighborhood kids outside her grandparents’ home in the 100 block of North Latrobe Avenue just after 7 p.m. on Independence Day, prosecutors said.
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Boyd was arrested Monday in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin, on a first-degree murder warrant.
Natalia was playing with neighborhood kids when a car pulled up and three people got out and started shooting toward the children, authorities said.
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Natalia was shot in the forehead and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died. She was going to start second grade at Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts in the fall. A 32-year-old man was also shot in the attack but survived, and identified all three shooters for police, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors previously announced Davion Mitchell, 22, was the first of three people suspected as gunmen in the attack, which occurred during a violent holiday weekend that left at least 17 people dead. Another man, Reginald Merrill, is charged with being the driver of the getaway car in the attack.
Prosecutors said high-quality video captured the faces of all three gunmen as they got out of a white 2016 Subaru Legacy and opened fire at a 32-year-old man who was walking in the direction of the children.
Mitchell even ran up on the sidewalk to get a better shot, authorities said. The man, who survived the shooting, identified all three shooters, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said. Authorities were awaiting the results of DNA testing on a face mask Mitchell left behind.
The fourth shooter, who has not yet been charged, is one of Boyd’s brothers, prosecutors said Tuesday. All three shooters and the getaway driver belong to the “2 Risky” street gang.
A third brother was killed June 29, prosecutors said, and members of 2 Risky believe that someone on Latrobe was responsible for that shooting, prosecutors said.
Cellphone messages from before and after Natalia’s death refer to procuring guns and blacking out the windows of a car. The as-yet-uncharged alleged third shooter wrote a message on Facebook: “Y’all thought you were going to celebrate the Fourth of July, huh?”
Boyd’s attorney, Nichole Massarello, noted that Boyd has lived in Racine with his girlfriend and her daughters since November and has only one conviction on his record: a drug case dating to 2009. He has his GED and has had a steady job as head grillmaster for Red Lobster for three years, she said.
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Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Boyd held without bond Tuesday, noting that the shooting happened on “a hot day when you’d expect a lot of residential people and children out on the street.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--State House GOP leader says Pritzker overextending his executive authority in dealing with pandemic

“ The governor and his administration , with a stroke of a pen , put about a million people out @ @ @ @ @ meaning the Department of Employment Security , was not able to keep up with the @ @ @ @ @ that .
It ’ s just an unfortunate situation , but they should have known @ @ @ @ @ that this was going to be a natural consequence and you would have to beef @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .

Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, listens during an extended House session at the Bank of Springfield Center, on May 23, 2020. (Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register)
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Tuesday that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dealt with the pandemic as “well as anybody” but has “overextended himself” as he continues to use emergency powers without review or action by the General Assembly.
Durkin, speaking at a virtual event for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, also said GOP legislative candidates this fall will need to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s varying degrees of support in the state and focus on the ongoing federal corruption scandal and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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Durkin, a 22-year House veteran from Western Springs, said he backed Pritzker’s early emergency orders, including the March stay-at-home order for workers deemed nonessential.
“I agreed with him on it because I knew that the virus is for real and we had to see if we could stop the spread of it quickly,” he said.
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But, he said, as restrictions began to be lessened in subsequent executive orders, there were things he disagreed with.
“I just had a very difficult time understanding the logic of keeping a Target or Walmart open” while “small mom-and-pops couldn’t open their stores. They were determined to be nonessential,” Durkin said.
“To me, that’s where the governor made a mistake, that we allowed these big-boxes to never stop operations at all,” he said. “He could have found a common ground with the hospitality industry. That’s where most of our jobs have been lost, in the restaurants,” where he said people live check by check from week to week.
Durkin contended Pritzker didn’t work with restaurant and retail officials early on “to find a common ground to be able to ensure that businesses would be able to maintain a high level of health and safety but allowing them to keep their cash registers open.”
The House GOP leader, who heads the 44-member minority in the 118-member chamber, also faulted Pritzker for the problems with the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s handling of a record number of benefit applications due to the stay-at-home and business closure orders.
“The governor and his administration, with a stroke of a pen, put about a million people out of work and they, meaning the Department of Employment Security, was not able to keep up with the demand, and I understand that. It’s just an unfortunate situation, but they should have known about that ahead of time that this was going to be a natural consequence and you would have to beef up the unemployment agency,” he said.
Now, Durkin said, Pritzker is “making decisions which I believe are more in the province of the legislature. It does concern me that the governor is overstepping his authority, his executive authority, without having the legislative body, who we all recognize are coequals under separation of powers, be part of this process.”
“I will say that he has handled the COVID issue as well as anybody could under these situations, but it’s the extension of his authority and power under this executive branch — I think he’s overextended himself,” Durkin said.
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He noted that Pritzker was exploring new emergency orders to be filed with the legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules involving enforcement of mandatory face masks, potentially involving fines, as an example of overreach.
Durkin faulted Pritzker and majority Democrats for pushing ahead on a new state budget that relies on $5 billion in borrowing from the Federal Reserve while lacking significant spending cuts to reflect the economy’s decline due to the pandemic.
“We should not have spent at that level the governor asked for, plain and simple. You don’t ask for more spending when you are in an economic downturn, and that is my biggest fault with the governor and how he’s handled the economics of the state during this crisis,” he said.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to repay that $5 billion that was taken out unless the feds come back and bail us out on that, but I don’t expect that anytime soon,” Durkin said, reflecting deadlocked talks between congressional Democrats and Republicans on a new coronavirus relief package.
As for the Nov. 3 House campaigns, Durkin acknowledged the varying popularity of Trump in Illinois — he’s more popular in central and southern Illinois and less in northeastern Illinois and more urbanized areas — and how that could affect campaigns.
As a result, Madigan will be a top focus of Republican candidates. The longtime speaker was implicated in an agreement by ComEd with federal authorities to pay a $200 million fine for a near decadelong bribery scheme aimed at winning influence with the speaker. Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied any involvement.
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“We have to be able to have a very laser-focused campaign for members to talk about — of who (the Democrats) are, what their relationship with the speaker is and how they plan to be supported by him financially moving forward,” Durkin said. “But the speaker is going to be front and center. He has been. He should expect it.”
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Coalition works to expand payments for Illinois residents with disabilities, who have been hit hard

Coalition works to expand payments for Illinois residents with disabilities, who have been hit hard by COVID-19

The proposal initially would increase payments by $ 266 per person .
The money would come from an increase in @ @ @ @ @ which is levied on the estates of deceased people .
The tax applies to people @ @ @ @ @ $ 4 million .
The current federal SSI program , which is supplemented with additional @ @ @ @ @ provides $ 783 in monthly payments to individuals and $ 1,175 for couples , according @ @ @ @ @ .

Monia Taylor poses for a portrait near her home in the East Side neighborhood on Aug. 4, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Monia Taylor, 64, must decide whether her monthly Supplemental Security Income will pay for food or rent, but not both. COVID-19 worsened the problem.
“The poverty Black people and disabled people face on a daily basis didn’t start with COVID,” Taylor said during an online news conference Tuesday. “The virus just exacerbated the problem.”
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Taylor, a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective, works with the organization to expand rights for people in the disability community. She has lupus, an autoimmune disease.
The group on Tuesday kicked off a campaign to push for an increase in Supplemental Security Income for Cook County residents with disabilities that group members hope will eventually be extended to all Illinois residents with disabilities. There are more than 150,000 Cook County residents who receive SSI, according to the proposal.
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“They keep telling us to wait, but how can you wait when your bills won’t let you?” Taylor said Tuesday. “How can you wait when your needs won’t let you?”
The proposal initially would increase payments by $266 per person. The money would come from an increase in the Illinois estate tax, which is levied on the estates of deceased people. The tax applies to people with estates worth more than $4 million. The current federal SSI program, which is supplemented with additional aid in some states, provides $783 in monthly payments to individuals and $1,175 for couples, according to the Social Security Administration.
“I think the way we would like to see this expanded is through Medicaid, so that it doesn’t count toward people’s income, and then therefore increase their rent,” said Cathleen O’Brien, a member of the group.
Commissioner Alma Anaya, 7th District, who represents parts of the West and Southwest sides, said the county does not have jurisdiction over disability payments, but she wants to continue the proposal’s momentum by talking about inequities. The ultimate goal is to push the proposal in Springfield when the next session of the Illinois General Assembly starts, she said.
“As we have seen, the effects of COVID have uncovered many of the injustices and vulnerabilities that have been left unjust for far too long, and the needs of people with disabilities is definitely one of them,” Anaya said Tuesday.
Under the proposal, the supplement would be automatically distributed to people who qualify for SSI.
Adam Ballard, a transportation and housing adviser for the group, said the supplement is needed to allow people to travel and afford rent.
“You’re paying everything you have — and then some — in rent,” Ballard said. “SSI is not enough to pay rent anywhere in the U.S., and especially here in the Chicago area.”
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Coalition President Angela Lacy said her $738 a month allows her to survive, not live. She feels she is not a part of the community, and she doesn’t have enough money to visit friends.
“Long before this pandemic, I’ve been living in a pandemic situation for a long time now,” Lacy said Tuesday.


Corrections and clarifications

· A story on Page 3 Saturday incorrectly identified the jail where Steven Davis was being held when prosecutors say @ @ @ @ @ killing of a man trying to intervene in a fight Davis was having with the @ @ @ @ @ It was McDonough County Jail in Macomb , Illinois .

· A story on Page 3 Saturday incorrectly identified the jail where Steven Davis was being held when prosecutors say he told someone about the killing of a man trying to intervene in a fight Davis was having with the man’s sister. It was McDonough County Jail in Macomb, Illinois.
· A story in Sunday’s Real Estate section mistakenly described the location of Tyler Bray’s condo, which is in the Cavalry Barracks building in Highland Park.
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The Tribune regrets the errors.
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
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chicagotribune--2020-08-04--With 2020 on pace to be the worst year in a decade for Black suicides, Cook County officials sound a

With 2020 on pace to be the worst year in a decade for Black suicides, Cook County officials sound alarm on yet another ‘horrifying’ pandemic

“ While our office is used to dealing with death , it is impossible to come to terms with a @ @ @ @ @ he believed that his only recourse was to take his own life , ” Arunkumar @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve said that many times now , the deaths we deal with in our @ @ @ @ @ preventable .
”

As the number of Black people who died by suicide so far this year in Cook County surged past 2019′s entire total, county officials say they are seeing an all-too-familiar story of entrenched disinvestment driving another public health crisis.
At least 246 people have died by suicide in 2020, 58 of whom were Black, county officials announced in a Tuesday news conference. In all of 2019, 56 Black people died from suicide, and this year’s final toll among is on pace to become the worst in a decade.
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The youngest victim so far in 2020 was a 9-year-old Black boy who died in Chicago last month, according to the medical examiner’s office.
“This is horrifying. It’s not surprising the communities that have suffered the most are the ones who also have the least,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “The disinvestment, the redlining, the systemic racism has culminated in a crisis that once again hits the African American community the hardest. We have no choice but to do better.”
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Though the majority of people who died by suicide in Cook County over the past decade, including this year, were white, Black suicides are on pace to double from last year, Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar said.
The announcement by county officials comes a week and a half after The Trace first reported a sharp increase in suicides among Black people.
Most of the Black suicides are concentrated in the South and West sides, Arunkumar said. Almost 80% of the victims were men and 40% were under 30 years old. Three were children, including the 9-year-old, whose death left Arunkumar’s office particularly shaken, she said.
“While our office is used to dealing with death, it is impossible to come to terms with a child who felt so hopeless he believed that his only recourse was to take his own life,” Arunkumar said. “As I’ve said that many times now, the deaths we deal with in our office are by and large preventable.”
At the same time, the medical examiner’s office workload eclipsed 9,500 cases for 2020 so far — compared to the average year that brings fewer than 6,300 cases, Arunkumar said. (The office investigates certain cases out of the annual 40,000-or-so deaths in Cook County.) There have been more than 4,900 COVID-19 deaths, likely more than 1,300 opioid overdose deaths and close to 550 homicides this year.
All four of these public health crises — coronavirus, opioid overdoses, homicides and suicides — are especially prevalent on the South and West sides, Arunkumar said.
Preckwinkle cautioned there is no one cause of the spike in suicides but noted a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found increased anxiety and depression among Black Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. The intertwining crises in Black neighborhoods are what Preckwinkle said is the result of decades of poverty from inequitable government policies.
“Black communities have been dealing with all the issues poverty creates: violence, poor mental health and physical health, drug use and suicide,” Preckwinkle said. “It’s time to shine a light and keep conversation going around anxiety and depression in the Black community.”
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The county is working on a suicide prevention plan that likely will be rolled out before the end of the year, said Dr. Diane Washington, executive director of behavioral health at Cook County Health. She said they especially need more community health workers to reach out to Cook County residents and help them navigate mental health care.
Washington also addressed the long-standing traumas plaguing Black youth, from racism to housing instability, long before the pandemic upturned their neighborhoods.
“This pain is unbearable, and this despondency and despair is huge,” Washington said. “It’s overtaken our community. And we need to get serious about managing it.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Public housing residents celebrate students heading off to college despite COVID-19: ‘It really mean

Public housing residents celebrate students heading off to college despite COVID-19: ‘It really means a lot and it motivates me’

” I still can ’ t believe it sometimes , ” said Miller , a St. Ignatius College Prep School @ @ @ @ @ at Harvard this fall .
“ To be able to say that I was able @ @ @ @ @ and be involved in so many extracurriculars and , really , just be able to @ @ @ @ @ just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I ’ ll have @ @ @ @ @

Naomi Muuzic, 18, is helped by her father, Doktu Muuzic, as she gets computers and school supplies in the Chicago Housing Authority's 10th Take Flight College Send-Off on Aug. 4, 2020, at the Charles A. Hayes Center in Chicago. Muuzic, of South Shore, plans to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
College freshmen are facing unprecedented adjustments this year due to COVID-19. But for 18-year-old Anicia Miller, who’s lived in public housing all her life, the overjoyed feeling she gets thinking about school still hasn’t subsided, despite plans to stay remote for the upcoming semester.
”I still can’t believe it sometimes,” said Miller, a St. Ignatius College Prep School graduate who plans to enroll at Harvard this fall. “To be able to say that I was able to just go throughout schooling and be involved in so many extracurriculars and, really, just be able to be accepted into Harvard is just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I’ll have as a student.”
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Anicia Miller, 18, and other public housing residents get computers and school supplies at the Chicago Housing Authority college send-off on Aug. 4, 2020. Miller, a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep, plans to attend Harvard University with a major in biomedical engineering. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Miller was one of 150 soon-to-be college students celebrated Tuesday morning in a send-off for Chicago public housing residents. The event marked the 10th rendition of the Chicago Housing Authority and its nonprofit Springboard to Success’ annual celebration, which underwent major adjustments this year because of COVID-19.
Students were given dorm room supplies meant to assist them in school, such as Chromebook laptops, and laundry and toiletry supplies. Families picked up their packages from a distance in a drive-thru celebration.
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The event “means a lot to me,” said Miller, who plans to major in biomedical engineering in hopes of creating prosthetic devices for children one day. “That still is great that this organization was able to adapt and ... congratulate the students and give them all the necessary things they need in college despite the circumstances.”
Along with Harvard, the students celebrated at the occasion plan to attend schools including various University of Illinois institutions, Boston University, the University of Alabama and historically Black colleges and universities, said Tracey Scott, the CEO of the Chicago Housing Authority.
Tatiana Ramsey, 18, participates in the CHA college send-off in the parking lot of the Charles A. Hayes Center on Aug. 4, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The donations were as “normal as it gets” so students could use them wherever needed, Scott said. It doesn’t matter whether students are attending school online or in a hybrid form this year because “the fact that they’re going to school is normalcy” amid the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
”Going to college is life-changing,” Scott said. “We want to support that, we support families moving towards economic self-sufficiency, and so getting their education is a really critical element of making a change in their life and the lives of their families.”
The annual event started a decade ago as a check-in on students in Chicago public housing who returned home for winter break. In its second year, it was moved to August, said Kristen Hamer, the CHA’s director of corporate and external partnerships, who heads Springboard to Success.
“At that first event, we were so excited for kids heading off to school, but several of them pulled us aside and said, ‘Hey, I’m actually not going unless I can come up with $10,000 by next week,’” Hamer said. “And that’s when we kind of began to pull back the layers of additional services that were needed.”
The CHA then added gifts to the events to help support students, Hamer said. This year, the group raised more than $100,000 through its annual spring fundraiser to buy incoming college freshmen in public housing dorm room supplies. The organization also gave students 223 scholarships of $1,000 each, according to Scott.
The fundraiser allowed the group to afford a laptop for each of the 150 students that Hamer said brought tears from some of the families picking them up Tuesday. The $70-$80 cost is “a meaningful resources to our families and allows their limited budget to stretch a little further,” she said.
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Lamaria Creamer, 18, a DuSable High School graduate from the South Side, plans to attend Western Illinois University this fall, and said she was “just so grateful” for the gifts, because her family had been trying to figure out how to get supplies like a computer.
“It was just shocking. I didn’t expect them to give me a computer,” said Creamer, who plans to study criminal justice in hopes of helping a family member who is incarcerated. “And then with the toiletries — I really appreciated that because I don’t know what you need (for college), so this is kind of heads-up of what I need to buy.”
Jaden White, 18, was another South Side student celebrated Tuesday. White, who graduated from Urban Prep High School Bronzeville and plans to attend Beloit College in Wisconsin, said the event was unlike others because people he’d never met were clapping for him and “were so happy for me to see me going off for college.”
“As an African American male, given the things going on in society right now, I’m glad that it’s people that actually want me to succeed and go off to college and do great things,” White said. “It really means a lot, and it motivates me to want to do better and be better as a person.”


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Orland Park dealt setback in lawsuit challenging COVID-19 restrictions

As far as whether the governor overstepped his authority with the restrictions , Wood wrote that the governor “ has @ @ @ @ @ a disaster strikes all or part ” of the state , and even if he @ @ @ @ @ law it would not necessarily render his actions beyond his legal authority .
”

A federal judge has dealt a setback for Orland Park in its lawsuit alleging Gov. J.B. Pritzker overstepped his authority in issuing restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Scott P. Yates / AP)
Orland Park elected officials have been dealt a serious setback in a lawsuit filed in June challenging Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A federal judge denied a motion by the village seeking a temporary restraining order as well as a preliminary injunction to overturn a series of executive orders issued by the governor.
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The ruling, spelled out in an Aug. 1 opinion, doesn’t end the lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Andrea Wood clearly indicated the village’s odds of ultimately being successful were very slim.
Filed June 16 in federal court in Chicago, the lawsuit alleges the state-imposed restrictions violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution and that Pritzker overstepped his authority.
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The motion for the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was filed the following day.
Apart from the village, other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include two village residents and the co-owner of an Orland Park business, The Brass Tap.
Wood told attorneys for the village and Pritzker during a conference call July 29 that she was denying Orland Park’s motion, according to court records.
A status conference has been scheduled for Sept. 29.
Wood ruled the village and other plaintiffs failed to show they have been unduly harmed by the governor’s order and would have “a negligible likelihood of success” in pressing their claims.
The lawsuit argues, in part, that Pritzker had “failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that public health is significantly endangered without” restrictions on businesses and residents.
The complaint also contends that not all businesses were treated equally as far as restrictions, in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and businesses and residents were denied due process under the 5th Amendment.
The judge said that the restrictions “undoubtedly have a real and substantial relationship to preventing the spread” of the virus, and the plaintiffs failed to show the executive orders had seriously impaired their rights to work, travel or freedom of association.
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Wood pointed out that even initial curbs still permitted socially distant gatherings outside in groups of 10 or less.
The lawsuit alleged that some restrictions fell heavier on certain businesses than others, such as restaurants and bars initially not being allowed to have customers inside, while grocery stores were viewed as essential businesses.
The judge wrote that “eating at a restaurant or drinking at a bar is a luxury compared to buying food and other household essentials at a grocery store,” and that restaurants were allowed to continue serving customers through carryout and delivery options.
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As far as whether the governor overstepped his authority with the restrictions, Wood wrote that the governor “has sweeping powers in the event a disaster strikes all or part” of the state, and even if he did not properly interpret the law it would not necessarily render his actions beyond his legal authority.”
Wood wrote the protective measures imposed since mid-March “have no apparent nefarious ulterior motive to restrain individual rights,” but that granting the request for preliminary injunction “would do extraordinary damage” to the state’s efforts to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.
At Monday’s Village Board meeting, Trustee Dan Calandriello summarized the judge’s ruling and scoffed that village taxpayers had spent about $66,000 “on getting laughed (at) by the judge.”
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On the governor’s pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit, attorneys for the plaintiffs have until Sept. 2 to respond, with the state’s response due by Sept. 16.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and some trustees have, over the last several weeks, been critical of the pace of reopening the state economy, with the village even putting forward its own roadmap to restart the local economy.
In a video message Tuesday posted at village’s website, Pekau said that local metrics as far as new cases and hospitalization rates showed village businesses could fully reopen, under the village’s plan, but that some businesses are taking customer preferences into consideration and holding off on returning to pre-pandemic conditions.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Gary police want help to find missing man from Calumet City

Police responded to a missing person ’ s report Monday just before 3 p.m. , Lt .
Dawn Westerfield said @ @ @ @ @ witness estimated he left house , or went missing sometime between Sunday night and 10 @ @ @ @ @ .
No one has been able to reach him by phone , he said .

Gary police want help to find a man last seen Sunday night in the city’s West Side section.
Barry Chapman, 56, was last seen around 11 p.m. Sunday at a home on the 7200 block of West 22nd Avenue, a witness told police. A Facebook page appears to show Chapman lives in Calumet City, Illinois, and is originally from Chicago’s Hegewisch section.
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Police responded to a missing person’s report Monday just before 3 p.m., Lt. Dawn Westerfield said in a release. The witness estimated he left house, or went missing sometime between Sunday night and 10 a.m. Monday, police said. No one has been able to reach him by phone, he said.
That was “out of character,” the man said, according to Westerfield.
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Chapman is 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 195 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a green button up shirt, blue jeans and black gym shoes.
It is not known if he left on foot, or got into a car, police said. He could be heading to East Chicago or Hammond, Westerfield said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Lt. Tom Pawlak at 219-881-1210.


chicagotribune--2020-08-04--Indiana chapter of the American Federation of Teachers backs strike if schools can’t reopen safely

The Indiana chapter of the American Federation of Teachers , which represents around 4,500 teachers and education staff statewide , @ @ @ @ @ in-person instruction only if teachers and school staff are provided with adequate personal protective equipment @ @ @ @ @ necessary safety resources such as masks and cleaning products , and cases in the community @ @ @ @ @ union did not explain what an acceptable level of infection might be .

GlenEva Dunham, Gary Teachers Union president and president of the Indiana Federation of Teachers, speaks during a rally for public education at the Indiana statehouse in Indianapolis on Monday, February 17, 2020. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune) (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
Indiana’s second-largest teacher organization announced Tuesday that its members may resort to striking to ensure a safe return to school as the state continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Indiana chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents around 4,500 teachers and education staff statewide, said schools should reopen for in-person instruction only if teachers and school staff are provided with adequate personal protective equipment, funding is provided for necessary safety resources such as masks and cleaning products, and cases in the community are under control. The union did not explain what an acceptable level of infection might be.
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If those safeguards aren’t met, AFT Indiana President GlenEva Dunham, of Gary, said union members would consider a strike. A resolution passed by AFT’s national executive council indicates the union will back local or state-led teachers strikes relating to educator health and safety during the pandemic.
“The members of AFT Indiana will not be threatened or bullied into returning to situations that are not safe,” Dunham said. “Our lives and our children’s lives are at stake.”
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She said the union is monitoring school reopenings “day-by-day.” Dozens of Indiana school districts have already reopened for in-person classes, or are planning to in the coming weeks, and Dunham said concerns remain about the precautions in place for brick-and-mortar settings.
Some school buildings don’t have central air, creating a “difficult” situation for students and teachers required to wear masks throughout the school day. In most classrooms, it’s also “virtually impossible” to space desks at least 6 feet apart to keep students socially distant.
“There are things that we’re asking for in order for us to feel safe,” Dunham said. “If they can’t do that, then we ask to go virtual.”
The Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Teachers in Avon Community Schools, just west of Indianapolis, gathered with signs Monday to peacefully protest district schools reopening, she said. On Tuesday, the school district said it learned that a second high school staff member had tested positive for the coronavirus since classes resumed July 29.
Even with remote learning options available, teachers are still being pressured to teach on two learning platforms without consideration for the strain it places on them, Dunham added. It’s another issue she called on districts to consider when weighing learning options for the new academic year.
Last week, the Indiana State Teachers Association, the largest teachers union in the state, also called for school buildings to only reopen if coronavirus cases are “under control in the community” and that specific protections are in place for students and staff to keep the virus at bay.