chicagotribune--2020-07-17--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,257 new COVID-19 cases reported as state sets a daily testing rec

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,257 new COVID-19 cases reported as state sets a daily testing record and Pritzker warns parents to expect school year unlike any other

” So we have to be very , very careful .
This is not going to be a school semester @ @ @ @ @ ’ m aware of .
Just be prepared for that fact .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ that way , no matter what .
Even if we keep our numbers down , @ @ @ @ @ away , ” he said .

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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)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned parents Thursday to prepare for a semester unlike “any other” as Illinois school districts grapple with the need to require masks, social distancing and remote learning options to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker also said his confidence level in leading the state through the pandemic was high after case numbers started dipping in May, but acknowledged he now feels “challenged” due to nationwide spikes and an uptick in Illinois.
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Also on Thursday, Illinois health officials announced 1,257 new known cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional fatalities. Officials also reported 43,006 new tests in the last 24 hours, a new daily record.
On Wednesday, Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot voiced concerns over the increasing number of positive test results among younger people, which could lead to reimposing bans on bars, indoor dining and youth sports activities. Chicago health data shows 29% of confirmed COVID-19 cases since June 15 have been among people ages 18 to 29. That’s a stark change from May, when cases of the virus peaked in the city and overwhelmingly affected older people.
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[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ Schools reopening tracker: What suburban Chicago districts are planning for the fall ]
[ 20 questions about assessing your COVID-19 risk at restaurants, gyms and more ]
Here’s what’s happening Thursday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:32 p.m.: Walmart, Target, Kohl’s join retailers making masks mandatory at stores nationwide. But how will it be enforced?
If you want to shop in person, a growing number of the nation’s biggest retailers say you’ll have to wear a mask — whether local rules require it or not.
Walmart, Target, CVS, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Kroger, Costco and Starbucks are all making face coverings mandatory for customers at stores nationwide.
Many retailers began requiring workers wear masks at all stores early in the pandemic, but some were reluctant to make employees confront customers who didn’t want to wear a face covering, especially in cities and states without a mask mandate. While 80% of Target’s stores are in areas that already require masks in stores, only about 65% of Walmart’s stores are.
Though many customers comply with the rules, some see masks as a political issue and they have led to confrontations between employees and customers. A customer at a Home Depot in northwest suburban McHenry was charged with misdemeanor battery following a dispute with another customer over wearing face masks earlier this month.
Videos of similar disputes at other retailers across the U.S. have been shared on social media, and some and have turned violent. In May, a security officer at a Michigan Family Dollar store was fatally shot after telling a customer to wear a mask.
Now, pointing to the rising number of COVID-19 cases nationwide, a growing number of retailers say they want all customers to wear them.
Here’s what to expect. —Lauren Zumbach
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5:35 p.m.: How a struggling company won $1.6 billion to make a coronavirus vaccine
In late February, as the coronavirus spread around the world, Dr. Richard Hatchett, head of an international nonprofit that gives money to vaccine developers, got on an important call to discuss vaccine candidates after his plane touched down at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Executives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped found and finance the nonprofit, were on the line, enthusiastic about Novavax, a small biotech company they thought had the potential to develop a vaccine against the virus — fast.
Although the company, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, had never brought a vaccine to market in its 33-year history, these experts were optimistic about its technology, which uses moth cells to pump out crucial molecules at a much faster rate than typical vaccines — a major advantage in a pandemic.
Hatchett’s organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, would go on to invest $388 million in the company’s coronavirus vaccine. With that powerful backing, Novavax made an aggressive push to the U.S. government. The company’s effort paid off last week when Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s effort to hurry coronavirus vaccines to the market, gave Novavax $1.6 billion, the largest award to date. The company’s stock surged 30%.
It was a dramatic turnaround for a little-known company that, just one year earlier, had been on the verge of collapse. One of its leading vaccine candidates — to prevent a deadly virus in infants — had failed for the second time in three years. The company’s stock was trading so low that it risked being removed from the Nasdaq. Looking for cash, it sold its manufacturing facilities. Word spread around the small world of Maryland biotech that Novavax might be closing soon.
Novavax’s good fortune may appear puzzling, given its track record and the air of secrecy surrounding Operation Warp Speed. But for those in the insular biotech world where connections matter, it is far less surprising. In the face of a deadly pandemic that is devastating the economy, the government is placing huge bets on vaccines and treatments that could enable a return to some semblance of normal life.
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Read more here. —The New York Times
3:31 p.m.: Cook County Board passes resolutions on use of CARES Act funding, moving more of $51 million to disinvested suburbs under ‘equitable’ funding formula
All but one Cook County Board commissioner voted during a special board meeting Thursday in favor of a funding formula aimed at shifting more federal COVID-19 stimulus money to disinvested municipalities throughout the suburbs.
Two resolutions commissioners approved will guide how some of the $429 million allocated to Cook County under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act will be sent to suburban communities as they fight to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
The first one will use an “equitable funding formula” with a heavy emphasis on economically disinvested areas, distributing $51 million of CARES Act money among Cook County municipalities to reimburse direct costs incurred while responding to the outbreak. The second resolution shifts nearly $82 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to the Bureau of Economic Development to support local businesses, assist renters, fund hotels sheltering people experiencing homelessness and more.
“COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities,” County Board president Toni Preckwinkle said of the new funding formula. “This approach is designed to ensure that these dollars are going to communities most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Allocations to each municipality were determined through an equitable lens.”
Read more here. —Alice Yin
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3:29 p.m.: Concerns were raised multiple times about COVID-19 and Smithfield Foods’ St. Charles plant before the health department shut it down, records show
In the days before the Kane County Health Department ordered Smithfield Foods’ St. Charles meat processing plant to close due to concerns about COVID-19, and before the health department confirmed an employee had died, a call came in to police.
The caller had concerns about Smithfield, a police transcript of the call shows, and told dispatchers their mom was a COVID-19 patient and an employee.
The 911 call is among several complaints raised about Smithfield’s St. Charles plant, a dry sausage-making facility that employs about 325 people, before the county health department ordered it to close April 24, police reports and documents obtained by the Beacon-News through an open records request show.
The health department received at least two reports, and the 911-caller contacted police twice, once days before the closure and once days afterward. Kane County sheriff’s deputies visited the plant twice before the closure at the request of the health department, following up on complaints, police reports and a spokesman indicated.
The documents paint a picture of mounting concern at the facility in the days before it was ordered closed, as meat processing plants across the country faced pressure over social distancing, protective equipment and COVID-19 safety practices. Workers at some plants nationwide became sick and some facilities temporarily closed, including other locations of Smithfield, which bills itself as the world’s largest pork processor.
Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
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2:57 p.m.: Pritzker warns parents to expect a school year unlike any other; admits feeling ‘challenged’ amid nationwide COVID-19 surge, Illinois uptick
Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned parents Thursday to prepare for a semester unlike “any other” as school districts grapple with the need to require masks, social distancing and remote learning options to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker also said his confidence level in leading the state through the pandemic was high after case numbers started dipping in May, but acknowledged he now feels “challenged” due to nationwide spikes and an uptick in Illinois.
The governor, whose comments came during unrelated news conferences in Rockford, again appealed to bar and restaurant owners to stick to 25% capacity limits on indoor serving or risk an outbreak that could lead to the re-imposition of closure orders.
Pritzker said while school districts will develop their own re-opening plans, and should get parental input, there would be no “compromise on the question of masks and distance. That is the No. 1 thing that slows and even stops the spread of COVID-19. It’s also — without masks, without distance — the No. 1 thing that spreads it.”
”If those rules are followed and if we can maintain and push down the numbers as we watch them in Illinois, then I would say that there can be in-person learning. And again, not for everybody,” he said, specifically pointing to children and families with immunocompromised systems.
”So we have to be very, very careful. This is not going to be a school semester like any other that I’m aware of. Just be prepared for that fact. It’s just really going to be that way, no matter what. Even if we keep our numbers down, this virus has not gone away,” he said.
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Read more here. —Rick Pearson
2:35 p.m.: New daily testing record as 1,257 new COVID-19 cases and 25 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Thursday announced 1,257 new known cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 157,950 and the statewide death toll to 7,251 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 43,006 new tests in the last 24 hours, a new daily record. Only three days — four including today’s numbers — have more than 35,000 tests reported.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.1%.
—Chicago Tribune staff
1:11 p.m.: Cook County health system to help test antibody-based drug
Cook County’s public health system announced Thursday that it is part of a nationwide effort to test the effectiveness of an antibody-based medicine against COVID-19.
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Cook County Health, which operates Stroger Hospital, will help determine if a drug derived from an antibody from one of the first surviving COVID patients in the United States helps people recover more quickly. The study, called BLAZE-1, is sponsored by drug maker Eli Lilly.
”It is important to evaluate therapies that use technology to mirror our own immune system’s ability to disarm potential damaging effects of viral infections to prevent serious complications we’ve seen during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease physician for Cook County Health and principal site investigator of the BLAZE-1 study. “Our hope is that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly.”
A couple dozen medical institutions across the country are taking part in the study. Participants in the research will be given either the drug, called LY-CoV555, or an inert placebo. Evaluators will determine whether those given the drug fare better over the next 12 weeks than those who got the placebo.
—Hal Dardick
12:22 p.m.: Glenview Park District pool closes same day it reopened after three more lifeguards test positive for COVID-19
The Glenview Park District has closed Flick Aquatic Center the same day it reopened after announcing that three more lifeguards have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Wednesday announcement came after the park district closed the swimming facility on July 9 after two high-school-to-college-aged lifeguards tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
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The lifeguards with the most recent COVID-19-positive results were not working at the facility on Wednesday when the pool was open, according to the district.
“We are reporting to IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) and following all state guidelines to ensure public safety,” said a July 15 statement by from Glenview Park District announcing the second closure.
The park district announced on its website that the aquatic center would be closed “until further notice.” In the statement, officials said that contact tracing would be undertaken and the facility would undergo “another full cleaning and sanitizing.”
Read more here. —Karie Angell Luc
11:34 a.m.: Cubs weekend night game plan for COVID-19 season advances, heads to full council
Aldermen Thursday advanced a one-season lifting of bans on Friday and Saturday night games at Wrigley Field in light of the “extraordinary circumstances” in Major League Baseball as a 60-game season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic gets set to start.
Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, has long fought to block weekend night games on the grounds the already-crowded neighborhood can’t handle the extra traffic and the added security concerns if notoriously hard-partying Cubs fans spend all day drinking at bars surrounding the historic ballpark.
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But he told the License Committee the change is needed to allow six Friday night games and six Saturday night games among the 30 games set for Wrigley Field starting July 24.
Read more here. —John Byrne
10:56 a.m.: UK, US and Canada accuse Russian government’s ‘Cozy Bear’ of hacking coronavirus vaccine trials
Britain, the United States and Canada accused Russian hackers on Thursday of trying to steal information from researchers seeking a coronavirus vaccine, warning scientists and pharmaceutical companies to be alert for suspicious activity.
Intelligence agencies in the three nations alleged that the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear and said to be part of the Russian intelligence service, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.
“It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic,‘' British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement, accusing Moscow of pursuing “selfish interests with reckless behavior.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
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10:11 a.m.: Chicago Symphony Orchestra cancels 2020 performances
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has canceled all its programs scheduled for Sept. 17 through Dec. 23 due to the coronavirus, according to an announcement Thursday morning.
These include CSO concerts, Symphony Center Presents, MusicNOW, Civic Orchestra of Chicago concerts and public programs presented by the Negaunee Music Institute .
“The decision follows careful review of the rapidly evolving conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and is in accordance with the State of Illinois and City of Chicago’s multi-phase recovery plans, and in response to the current safety guidelines from public health officials,” said a CSOA statement.
Read more here. —Howard Reich
8:37 a.m.: More than 1.3 million sought unemployment benefits last week, as jobless claims remain high
The number of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits remained stuck at 1.3 million last week, a historically high level that indicates many companies are still cutting jobs as the viral outbreak intensifies.
The elevated level of applications for jobless aid is occurring as new confirmed cases of coronavirus are spiking across much of the Sun Belt, threatening to weaken the economic recovery. Case counts are rising in 40 states and 22 states have either paused or reversed their efforts to reopen their economies, according to Bank of America.
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Rising infections paralleled rising applications for aid in some states getting hit right now, and fell in states with declining infections. In Florida claims doubled to 129,000, and in Georgia they rose nearly one-third to 136,000. In California they increased 23,000 to nearly 288,000. Applications also rose in Arizona and South Carolina.
Applications fell in Texas, New Jersey and New York.
Read more here. —Associated Press
8:12 a.m.: Abbott earnings top expectations, with $615M in sales from COVID-19 testing
Abbott Laboratories on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $537 million.
The company, based in north suburban Abbott Park, said it had profit of 30 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 57 cents per share.
The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 43 cents per share.
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The maker of infant formula, medical devices and drugs posted revenue of $7.33 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $6.83 billion.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:50 a.m.: Museum of Science and Industry to reopen August 1 — with food on the front lawn and the front doors open again
Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry will end its more than four-month coronavirus closure on Aug. 1, welcoming the public back with two weeks of free admission and some new features, the museum announced Thursday.
The South Side science museum will have no-cost entry, with a ticket reserved in advance, through Aug. 14, and the front doors on the north side of the building will be open for the first time in 15 years, while the normally overlooked front lawn will feature food and beverage sales under a tent.
Members will be able to partake three days earlier, with the museum ending its COVID-19 closure for them beginning July 29.
A big special exhibition, “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes,” will be delayed from the planned Oct. 8 opening until March 4 of 2021, and it will reside at the museum through Sept. 6 of that year.
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MSI, like almost all Chicago cultural institutions, closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic and has remained shuttered while the city and state brought down their infection rates through physical distancing, widespread stoppage of public activities and enforcement of public health common sense. Both Chicago and Illinois are now in Phase 4 of their 5-step reopening plans, although neither will enter the final phase until a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment is widely available.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
6:45 a.m.: Remote learning must continue in Chicago Public Schools this fall, Chicago Teachers Union says
Saying there is no way to reopen schools safely this fall, the Chicago Teachers Union is calling for virtual learning to continue in Chicago Public Schools when the new year begins after Labor Day.
“We stand for a safe and equitable reopening of the schools, but today COVID-19 cases are soaring instead of dissipating,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said in a release Wednesday evening. “There is simply no way to guarantee safety for in-school learning during an out-of-control pandemic — and that means we must revert to remote learning until the spread of this virus is contained.”
While CPS officials have already committed to measures like mandatory face masks, temperature checks and sanitizing protocols for when schools do reopen, the teachers union has said more needs to be done to reduce the health risks, including safe transportation plans for students and nurses in every school.
Read more here. —Chicago Tribune staff
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6:30 a.m.: Should you dine out in Chicago? Health experts weigh in on risks, and how to reduce them.
Nevada closed bars in Las Vegas and Reno again on Friday due to an increase in local COVID-19 cases. On Monday Louisiana ceased indoor bar service statewide, while California ordered all restaurants and bars to stop indoor dining. These moves backward in reopening the economy are the latest in recent weeks across the country.
On Tuesday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s watching bars in the state as potential hot spots while known coronavirus case numbers rise. Wednesday morning Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said sternly in a press conference that she would not just stop the car and turn around, but make those who misbehave get out and walk back.
As restaurants and bars continue to reopen for indoor dining, while struggling to survive, the question for some customers remains: Should you dine out indoors? Guidelines from the city and state have been confusing at best, and conflicting at worst.
We spoke with four experts. —Louisa Chu


chicagotribune--2020-07-17--Pritzker warns parents to expect a school year unlike any other; admits feeling ‘challenged’ amid na

Pritzker warns parents to expect a school year unlike any other; admits feeling ‘challenged’ amid nationwide COVID-19 surge, Illinois uptick

“ I realize there ’ s an incentive , you know , to have more and more people .
That @ @ @ @ @ incentive .
‘ Let ’ s have more people come to the restaurant or bar.
@ @ @ @ @ if that happens and there are outbreaks , you ’ ll end up getting shut @ @ @ @ @ end up shutting down all the bars or restaurants , ” he said .

Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned parents Thursday to prepare for a semester unlike “any other” as school districts grapple with the need to require masks, social distancing and remote learning options to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker also said his confidence level in leading the state through the pandemic was high after case numbers started dipping in May, but acknowledged he now feels “challenged” due to nationwide spikes and an uptick in Illinois.
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The governor, whose comments came during unrelated news conferences in Rockford, again appealed to bar and restaurant owners to stick to 25% capacity limits on indoor serving or risk an outbreak that could lead to the reimposition of closure orders.
Pritzker said while school districts will develop their own reopening plans, and should get parental input, there would be no “compromise on the question of masks and distance. That is the No. 1 thing that slows and even stops the spread of COVID-19. It’s also — without masks, without distance — the No. 1 thing that spreads it.”
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[ Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks in 3 charts ]
“If those rules are followed and if we can maintain and push down the numbers as we watch them in Illinois, then I would say that there can be in-person learning. And again, not for everybody,” he said, specifically pointing to children and families with immunocompromised systems.
“So we have to be very, very careful. This is not going to be a school semester like any other that I’m aware of. Just be prepared for that fact. It’s just really going to be that way, no matter what. Even if we keep our numbers down, this virus has not gone away,” he said.
Pritzker announced school reopening guidelines on June 23, giving deference to local school districts. But questions about oversight remained, and the Illinois State Board of Education acknowledged it would not review individual district plans.
At the time, Pritzker sought to downplay the lack of state oversight, saying, “Every superintendent, every teacher, every person that works in the school, paraprofessionals, not to mention the students and families, all have the same interest — which is to keep these children and the people who work there safe.”
[ ‘I don’t think about it a ton.’ Chicago’s young adults react to COVID-19 uptick among their peers. ]
The state guidance to bring students back into classrooms calls for face coverings and suggests social distancing “as much as possible.” It also limits gatherings to under 50, requests increased schoolwide cleaning and disinfecting, and symptom screening and temperature checks for people entering schools.
The state’s major teachers unions questioned the adequacy of the guidelines with Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery saying they appeared more “aspirational” than grounded in “reality” with no certification that safety rules would be implemented and practiced.
But later Thursday, Pritzker’s administration filed suit in Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield against a school district in downstate Hutsonville on the Illinois-Indiana border, and Christian academies in Yorkville and Channahon who notified state education and health officials at the end of June and early July that they were not obligated to follow the guidelines and would not impose face mask requirements.
The schools are represented by Thomas DeVore, an attorney from downstate Greenville, who has led legal fights against Pritzker’s executive emergency orders contending they are an unconstitutional overreach of his powers.
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DeVore made similar arguments on behalf of the schools and said they were declining to follow the guidance for schools. On behalf of the Hutsonville district, DeVore wrote: “With all due respect to your recommendations, my client is inclined to advise your agencies they are reasonably certain such additional protocols, if any, will not include a mandate that staff, parents or children be required to wear any type face coverings.”
But attorneys for Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the State Board of Education said in the suit that based on “constitutional and statutory authority, the state has the right to the statewide unified implementation and enforcement of the governor’s executive orders and the guidance (to schools). The state also has a vital interest in regulating the response to COVID-19 and setting minimum public health standards.”
The suit said the benefits of a court injunction requiring the schools to comply “outweigh any possible injury” they would suffer by not adhering to the public health guidelines and risking spread of the coronavirus.
The issue of school opening has become a political one with President Donald Trump insisting on a return to full time in-person instruction and warning of the withholding of federal funding for districts that do not comply.
At Thursday’s White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump wants schools to open, “and when he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.”
[ Remote learning must continue in Chicago Public Schools this fall, teachers union says. ‘People will get sick, and we can’t look at that as collateral damage.’ ]
Pritzker on Thursday said school districts must have options to provide for remote learning, not just for at-risk students and families, but also in case “things get worse.”
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Remote learning, he acknowledged, was “not nearly as good as in-person learning, there’s no doubt,” but said districts must have “hybrid opportunities” due to “this very uncertain world of novel coronavirus.”
Pritzker acknowledged that as the state headed toward its pandemic peak this spring, with rising cases, hospitalizations and deaths, “my confidence level was low about everything.”
“As we came down the other side of that peak, my confidence level raised,” he said. “Now that we have a massive uptick in cases all across the country, my confidence level is challenged.
“And then I look at the state of Illinois, and although we’ve had a mild uptick, it’s one that I watch every day because anybody that knows anything about epidemics knows that when you have a mild uptick, there’s an indicator you’re heading in the wrong direction and it may multiply. So we want to make sure we get a handle on that,” he said.
[ Illinois schools reopening: Here's what suburban Chicago districts are planning for the fall ]
Illinois has seen its rolling seven-day average of positive testing increase to 3.1% from as low as 2% last month. The average number of positive cases has increased from 622 a day three weeks ago to 1,039 a day this week, through Wednesday, based on statistics from Johns Hopkins University.
The state on Tuesday announced 1,257 new known cases of the coronavirus in Illinois, along with 25 deaths. That brings the total number of known cases since the pandemic began to 157,950, and the death toll to 7,251.
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Pritzker called on bar and restaurant owners to be “extra careful and vigilant” in following public health guidelines and capacity limits to avoid the potential for creating outbreaks that could lead to business shutdowns.
“I realize there’s an incentive, you know, to have more and more people. That’s been historically your incentive. ‘Let’s have more people come to the restaurant or bar.’ But right now, if that happens and there are outbreaks, you’ll end up getting shut down, and you may end up shutting down all the bars or restaurants,” he said.
rpearson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-17--Walmart, Target, Kohl’s join retailers making masks mandatory at stores nationwide. But how will it

Walmart, Target, Kohl’s join retailers making masks mandatory at stores nationwide. But how will it be enforced?

Many retailers began requiring workers wear masks at all stores early in the pandemic , but some were reluctant to @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t want to wear a face covering , especially in cities and states @ @ @ @ @ While 80 % of Target ’ s stores are in areas that already require masks @ @ @ @ @ 65 % of Walmart ’ s stores are .

Air travelers with and without face masks use a moving walkway toward their gates at Midway International Airport in Chicago on April 19, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
A growing number of the nation’s biggest retailers say you’ll have to wear a mask inside their stores — whether local rules require it or not.
Walmart, Target, CVS, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Kroger, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, Meijer, Costco and Starbucks are all making face coverings mandatory for customers at stores nationwide.
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Employees at many stores have been required to wear masks since early in the pandemic, but retailers were reluctant to confront customers who didn’t wear face coverings,especially in areas without a mask mandate. While 80% of Target’s stores are in areas that already require masks in stores, only about 65% of Walmart’s stores are.
Some see masks as a political issue, which has led to confrontations between employees and shoppers. A customer at a Home Depot in northwest suburban McHenry was charged with misdemeanor battery following a dispute with another customer over wearing face masks earlier this month.
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Shoppers wearing face masks walk outside a Walmart store in Washington, D.C. on July 15, 2020. Walmart said it will require shoppers to wear face masks starting next week. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty-AFP)
Videos of similar disputes at other retailers across the U.S. have been shared on social media, and some have turned violent. In May, a security officer at a Michigan Family Dollar store was fatally shot after telling a customer to wear a mask.
Now, pointing to the rising number of COVID-19 cases nationwide, a growing number of retailers say they want all customers to wear masks. Here’s what to know.
Doesn’t Illinois already require masks in stores?
Yes, but shoppers may notice changes in enforcement, particularly at the front door.
Walmart said it will station “health ambassadors” wearing black polo shirts near the entrance to remind maskless shoppers about the rules. The chain said ambassadors will work with customers who don’t have a mask, and that it is “currently considering different solutions.”
Sam’s Club, Best Buy and Kohl’s also will have an employee at the door to remind shoppers to wear a face covering. Best Buy and Sam’s Club said they will provide free masks, if needed.
What if a customer won’t comply?
In a statement, Walmart said “virtually everyone” follows the rules where masks are already required. Still, Walmart doesn’t want to put employees in a situation where they may get into a physical confrontation, said spokesman Kory Lundberg. Employees have been told to let shoppers who refuse to wear a mask in and notify a manager.
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CVS said it doesn’t want employees to “play enforcer.” Employees are told to help customers who won’t comply check out as quickly as possible and let them know about options that don’t require a mask, like delivery or drive-thru window service, said spokesman Mike DeAngelis.
Other retailers did not address questions from the Tribune about cases where customers refuse to wear a face covering.
What about customers with a medical condition or disability?
Illinois advises people who can’t wear a face covering for health reasons to work with a store employee to find a solution that lets them make purchases without putting anyone’s health at risk or causing “undue hardship” to the business. That could include placing an order for curbside pickup or delivery, or shopping at a quiet time when it’s easier to maintain social distancing.
Customers don’t need to show proof of a medical condition or disability under Illinois guidelines, and many retailers said they don’t require it.
At Walmart, shoppers who say they can’t wear a face covering for medical or religious reasons will be allowed to enter without a mask.
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When do the new policies go into effect?
Best Buy began requiring masks at all stores Wednesday. Walmart, Sam’s Club, CVS, Fresh Thyme, Meijer and Kohl’s will require them nationwide starting Monday. At Kroger and Target, the rules goes into effect July 22 and Aug. 1, respectively.
Associated Press contributed.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-16--Report: Chicago cops trailed former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson home after finding him in SU

Report: Chicago cops trailed former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson home after finding him in SUV following ‘several large servings of rum’

The new account was unflattering both to Johnson and the department , as it indicated the former top cop might @ @ @ @ @ other officers on a force repeatedly accused of covering up misconduct .
Ferguson ’ s @ @ @ @ @ pressure on Lightfoot to release the fuller report on the incident , which so far @ @ @ @ @ .

The city of Chicago released bodycam footage related to an October incident where former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in a car. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
After finding then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson asleep in a city SUV following his consumption of “several large servings of rum,” Chicago police trailed their boss home as he ran a stop sign and briefly drove in the wrong lane, the city watchdog reported Thursday.
Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s quarterly report gave a fuller account of the incident last fall that led Mayor Lori Lightfoot to fire Johnson, and it raised the possibility of discipline for other officers. Among other allegations, the report says another cop — Johnson’s driver — also drove home in a city vehicle after drinking with the superintendent that night.
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The new account was unflattering both to Johnson and the department, as it indicated the former top cop might have gotten a pass from other officers on a force repeatedly accused of covering up misconduct. Ferguson’s summary also could ratchet up pressure on Lightfoot to release the fuller report on the incident, which so far she has declined to do.
Discipline could be coming, as Ferguson’s summary said he’d delivered reports on the conduct of other cops. Ferguson wrote that those reports address the actions of the other officer who allegedly drove after drinking, as well as “the CPD member response” to the call that led to police finding Johnson asleep in his SUV.
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The Police Department’s response to those reports is due by the end of July. Police spokesman Luis Agostini said in an email that, “The department will take any necessary disciplinary measures upon their complete review of that report.”
Neither Johnson nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.
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On the night of Oct. 16, 2019, Johnson and his driver drank at Ceres Cafe in the Loop, according to details previously reported and Ferguson’s summary of events. Ferguson reported that both drank rum at the bar famous for its generous pours.
Ferguson’s report does not say when they left the bar. But he wrote that Johnson drove, and around 10:30 p.m. he dropped her off at police headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood. The inspector general reported that she drove away in her city vehicle.
Johnson then drove toward his home. Security footage showed he parked illegally at 34th Place and Aberdeen Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood at 10:39 p.m., Ferguson wrote. He remained there with the SUV running until a member of the public called 911 to report someone asleep in a vehicle and officers arrived at 12:33 a.m, according to the report.
Previously released body camera footage shows that officers found Johnson slumped in his seat.
Ferguson wrote that a Chicago Fire Department member also came to the scene, approached the SUV and asked what was going on before stopping abruptly and walking away.
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The body camera footage showed that Johnson appeared to have put his police credentials against the window, Ferguson wrote. The officer asked his boss, “You just sitting here, or do you wanna go home?”
“I’m good,” Johnson replied. The officer responded, “You good? Alright, sir, have a good night.”
The officers did not perform any sobriety tests on Johnson, Ferguson wrote.
Other police vehicles came to the scene, and an officer called for a supervisor, who arrived about 12:43 a.m., Ferguson wrote. Johnson was allowed to drive off at 12:46 a.m., initially heading away from his home, with the supervisor following him, the report states.
At nearly the same time, an officer coded the stop to indicate that no police action had been needed, Ferguson wrote.
Dashboard camera video showed that two police vehicles followed Johnson as he failed to halt at a stop sign and then made a “slow, wide right turn into the wrong lane” before correcting himself, Ferguson wrote. GPS location data showed that two police vehicles ended up in “the area of the superintendent’s residence,” according to the report.
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Ferguson accused Johnson of making false statements during a news conference the next day when he said he was out for dinner with a group of friends before his encounter with police and that he’d ordered an internal investigation. The report also notes that Johnson failed to acknowledge he’d been drinking and instead blamed a medication mix-up.
While he acknowledged to Lightfoot that he had drinks, he also repeated to the mayor his contention about the medication mishap and said he’d directed officers to initiate a complaint against him, Ferguson wrote.
Citing the inspector general, Lightfoot removed Johnson as superintendent in early December. He dropped back to the rank of lieutenant and then resigned. He brings in a pension of about $190,000 yearly.
While Ferguson’s summary Thursday offered new information, the Lightfoot administration has declined to release the more detailed report of the incident despite pressure from media outlets and some aldermen.
Lightfoot ran for mayor on her credentials as a police reformer and promised transparency. Following her election, Lightfoot’s administration supported an ordinance passed last fall that allows the release of reports from the inspector general in cases that lead to a death or may involve a felony and generate a “compelling public interest.”
But City Hall officials have argued that none of Johnson’s alleged conduct could have been a felony. Law Department spokeswoman Kathleen Fieweger told the Tribune that stance had not shifted.
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“The mayor has addressed this and there is no change,” Fieweger wrote in an email on Thursday.
Asked whether the city should release the full report, Ferguson spokeswoman Natalie Kuriata said the new summary “was meant to provide some more context to the investigation completed back in November and the pending investigation responses.”
But, Kuriata added in a statement, the law on releasing the reports “specifies grounds for release and doesn’t grant that ability to” Ferguson.
Chicago Tribune’s Annie Sweeney contributed.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
dhinkel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-16--The Spin: Pritzker feeling ‘challenged’ over COVID-19 response | Fired top cop Johnson now on city’s

The Spin: Pritzker feeling ‘challenged’ over COVID-19 response | Fired top cop Johnson now on city’s do-not-hire list | Michelle Obama’s podcast to address ‘tough year,’ relationships

“ And then I look at the state of Illinois , and although we ’ ve had a mild uptick @ @ @ @ @ that I watch every day because anybody that knows anything about epidemics knows that when @ @ @ @ @ , there ’ s an indicator you ’ re heading in the wrong direction and @ @ @ @ @ we want to make sure we get a handle on that , ” he said @

Wearing a mask with the State of Illinois emblem, Gov. JB Pritzker talks with essential workers proving coronavirus test at Coles Elementary School in the southeast side, Wednesday July 8, 2020. Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune)
In Rockford today, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said his confidence level in leading the state through the pandemic was high after case numbers started dipping in May, but acknowledged he now feels “challenged” because of nationwide spikes in the virus and an uptick in Illinois, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports.
In addition to getting the ax over a drinking and driving episode last year, ex-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson also is on the city’s “ineligible for rehire” list kept by the human resources department.
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That’s according to a new city watchdog report on the incident released this morning, which paints an embarrassing picture of an “impaired” top cop who broke several traffic laws behind the wheel of his city-owned vehicle as his own officers followed him home only to mislead the public and the mayor about what happened in the days that followed.
My colleagues John Byrne and Dan Hinkel remind readers that city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s summary report offered new details about what happened that October night, but notes that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration has declined to release the more detailed report of the incident.
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To say the report doesn’t help the Police Department is an understatement: It comes at a time when Johnson’s replacement, David Brown, is working to restore police-community trust amid a spike in violent crime locally and as law enforcement across the nation faces intense criticism over a series of excessive-force cases.
And former first lady and beloved Chicagoan Michelle Obama will launch a podcast on relationships on July 29, Spotify announced this morning.
Welcome to The Spin.
Then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson chats with Mayor Lori Lightfoot prior to a graduation and promotion ceremony held at Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom in Chicago on Sept. 4, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Byrne and Hinkel: After drinking “several large servings of rum” with a subordinate at a downtown restaurant last fall, then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson sat in his city vehicle for two hours parked illegally at a South Side intersection before police officers arrived and let him drive himself home, the city watchdog reported Thursday.” Read the full story here. And read the report, which details how Johnson violated several traffic laws en route to his home that night, here.
In the days that would follow, according to the report, Johnson misled the public and mayor, telling reporters at a news conference and, separately, the mayor that he had pulled over after falling ill, the apparent result of a mix-up with his medication. While he told the mayor he had had a few drinks over dinner with friends, he made no mention of it at the news conference.
Johnson also told the media that he had ordered an internal investigation of the incident, to ensure police responded by the book, which also was not true, according to Ferguson’s report.
In fact, Johnson had been out drinking with a subordinate — his driver who also was part of his security team — then drove her to Chicago police headquarters on the South Side to drop her off at her car and then he drove off. A short distance away, he apparently stopped the car on the street and nodded off for several hours, prompting a passerby to call 911.
For now we’ll have to wait on Ferguson’s report about whether police officers, along with a supervisor who was summoned to the scene, followed the letter of the law in responding to the 911 call.
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It’s a messy end to a quiet but steady career that Johnson said was influenced by his father’s do-the-right-thing attitude.
And he won’t be back to work for the city — according to the inspector general, his recommendation to the mayor to add Johnson to the city’s “ineligible for rehire list” is a done deal.
Politics, connections played into hiring at Cook County agency in charge of handling property tax appeals, county watchdog: The Tribune’s Alice Yin has the details here.
Wearing a mask with the State of Illinois emblem, Gov. J.B. Pritzker arrives at a coronavirus testing site at Coles Elementary School on the Southeast Side July 8, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
As he warned parents today to prepare for a fall school semester unlike “any other,” Gov. Pritzker also reflected on his own change in attitude as the pandemic wares on, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports. Read the details, including some of the planning to reopen the school year and concerns raised by the major teachers’ unions, here.
Pearson writes: “Pritzker ... said his confidence level in leading the state through the pandemic was high after case numbers started dipping in May, but acknowledged he now feels ‘challenged’ due to nationwide spikes and an uptick in Illinois.”
“As we came down the other side of that peak, my confidence level raised,” he said. “Now that we have a massive uptick in cases all across the country, my confidence level is challenged.
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“And then I look at the state of Illinois, and although we’ve had a mild uptick, it’s one that I watch every day because anybody that knows anything about epidemics knows that when you have a mild uptick, there’s an indicator you’re heading in the wrong direction and it may multiply. So we want to make sure we get a handle on that,” he said.
Cook County Board passes measure aimed at spending CARES Act funding on suburbs long in need: The Tribune’s Alice Yin has the story here.
The tomb of U.S. Sen. Stephen Douglas on the South Side in 2013, on the site of Douglas's former estate on East 35th Street. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
Days after three Illinois lawmakers penned a letter to Gov. Pritzker asking for the removal of a towering statue honoring the late Illinois Sen. Stephen Douglas, the governor’s spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh today tells The Spin “the administration is looking into the process for removing the statue and will work with the appropriate state agencies to do so.”
Douglas, who made a losing bid for president against Abraham Lincoln, was once heralded for building up the state’s Democratic Party, but his defense of slavery in the run-up to the Civil War has triggered a review of the many tributes to him in the state.
“We feel it is incredibly offensive that in a neighborhood that is predominantly Black that there is a state sanctioned ninety-six-foot tall granite structure affixed with a nine-foot bronze statue of Douglas,” State Rep. Kam Buckner, whose 26th District includes the South Side community of Bronzeville, Rep. Lamont J. Robinson, 5th, and Rep. Curtis J. Tarver II, 25th, write. “There is an edifice dedicated to allowing a bigot even in his grave to look down upon the Black community. This is indefensible.”
The lawmakers’ request comes amid a national reckoning over the nation’s history of racial injustices, reignited after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in May. Across the South, activists are demanding the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy, saying it’s morally indefensible to honor those who fought to preserve slavery.
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Known as Douglas Tomb State Memorial Park, the edifice and statue soar over Douglas’ burial site on 35th Street, just east of Cottage Grove Avenue; Douglas owned land on the South Side. Lawmakers stressed they want the statue removed, but not to disturb the tomb or remains there.
They also want the state and the city of Chicago to remove it as a destination on the “Enjoy Illinois” and “Choose Chicago” tourist websites.
In an emailed statement, the mayor’s office said: “The City of Chicago is carefully evaluating its current policies around monuments, public art conservation, and new commissions.”
Earlier this month, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called for a portrait of Douglas in the Capitol’s House chamber to be removed, and the University of Chicago removed two displays honoring Douglas on the South Side campus, noting that he “profited from his wife’s ownership of a Mississippi plantation where Black people were enslaved.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks in May 2019. (Paul R. Giunta/Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP)
“The Michelle Obama Podcast,” which will focus on conversations about relationships — from siblings to friends, partners and parents — launches July 29 on Spotify, according to an announcement this morning from the streaming service.
“It’s been a tough year and I hope this podcast can help us explore what we’re going through and spark new conversations with our loved ones,” Michelle Obama, who was raised in Chicago, wrote on Twitter.
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A look at the guests: Expect her own family to make an appearance including mother Marian Robinson, who left her lifelong home in Chicago to live with the first family during President Barack Obama’s two terms in office, and brother Craig Robinson, according to Spotify. Other notables expected on the show: close friend and Chicagoan Valerie Jarrett, who served as a senior adviser in the Obama White House, along with talk-show host Conan O’Brien, journalist Michele Norris and Dr. Sharon Malone, whose spouse is Eric Holder, who was attorney general under Obama.
OK, but what about the other family members — the former president and their two daughters? Stay tuned.
The new podcast is part of an ongoing collaboration between Spotify and Higher Ground, a production company founded by the former president and first lady. Read the rest of The Associated Press piece about it here.
I’m thrilled to announce a new project: The #MichelleObamaPodcast with @Spotify! It’s been a tough year and I hope this podcast can help us explore what we’re going through and spark new conversations with our loved ones. I can't wait for you all to listen on July 29! pic.twitter.com/89zecZXnrr — Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) July 16, 2020
Willie Wilson puts on his face mask after speaking at a news conference at the Thompson Center in Chicago calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to amend his executive order mandate regarding face masks on May 12, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“Willie Wilson, who lost twice in bids to become Chicago’s mayor and who also failed in a long-shot bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, is kicking off his third-party bid to challenge U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin with a series of ads on cable TV,” the Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes.
In Springfield yesterday, when members of the Democratic State Central Committee met, Durbin credited Wilson, a wealthy businessman, with trying to help impoverished members of the Black community but also warned that he was a Republican who backed President Donald Trump, Pearson notes. Wilson also was an ally of former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Pearson writes: “Durbin also warned that if Wilson receives 5% of the vote, under state law his third party would automatically become an ‘established’ political organization in future elections, with vastly lower signature requirements granting easier ballot access.” That’s not out of the question, given his showing in recent mayoral races. More details here.
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Former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is the Republican nominee in the race.
Duckworth on late night talk show: ‘I don’t support tearing down George Washington’s statue’: Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth continues to make the national media rounds as her name is bandied about as a finalist to be presumed Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate.
During an appearance last night on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Duckworth, once again, responded to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s recent on-air commentary challenging her and other Democratic leaders’ patriotism. The criticism stemmed from a question Duckworth fielded during a CNN interview about whether she supports removing monuments honoring U.S. historical figures, particularly those who were slaveholders like George Washington.
The Iraq War vet and Purple Heart recipient who lost both legs after her helicopter was shot down near Baghdad, said there should be a national dialogue about it and criticized President Trump for appearing at Mount Rushmore over the Fourth of July weekend.
“Of course I don’t support tearing down George Washington’s statue. No more would I support that than I would having the Purple Heart ripped from my chest,” Duckworth told Meyers, noting that the medal’s origins has ties to the nation’s first president.
Watch Tucker Carlson’s comments here. And tune in to Duckworth’s response here
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Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-07-16--Politics, connections played into hiring at Cook County agency in charge of handling property tax ap

Politics, connections played into hiring at Cook County agency in charge of handling property tax appeals, inspector general report finds

Although some employees maintained their political work was voluntary , the report found “ BOR leadership regularly and systemically solicits @ @ @ @ @ in political work on behalf of Commissioners.
” An appeals analyst said when Commissioner A @ @ @ @ @ signatures , she worried about not being able to help because she already was getting @ @ @ @ @ according to the report .
She met with the commissioner to explain because “ I @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m not a team player .
He was very understanding , ” the @ @ @

Politics and job candidates’ connections have played a role in the hiring practices at the Cook County Board of Review, the Office of the Independent Inspector General found in a newly released report.
Inspector General Pat Blanchard’s report found that commissioners at the county agency in charge of considering property tax appeals repeatedly have recruited employees based on their personal and political connections. Employees also were pressured to do political work for commissioners, Blanchard’s report found.
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The board’s three commissioners — Michael Cabonargi, Dan Patlak and Larry Rogers Jr. — were not identified by name in the report. In a Thursday joint statement to the Tribune, the three commissioners said the board “is operating at an unprecedented level of transparency.”
”We’re proud of the work we’ve put into making the Board of Review more transparent and accountable, while staffing and retaining a qualified workforce that’s processing a record-breaking number of appeals, and we’re fully committed to making sure that progress and our commitment to transparency continues at all levels of the Board,” the statement said.
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Through Blanchard’s investigation, his office found the board uses an informal hiring process often through connections with commissioners rather than written job postings. Blanchard’s report says openings were “inaccessible” to those outside such circles and rejects “occasional” assertions during the investigation that opportunities were posted online.
“It appears that each Commissioner and his designees recruit and receive potential candidates by way of referrals from staff, networking events and personal and political relationships,” the report stated.
Although the Board of Review is not under the long-standing Shakman decree that bound Cook County to anti-patronage measures, “the constitutional principles upon which the litigation stands are applicable to those governmental agencies,” according to the report. Considering political affiliation during hiring is usually not allowed under public employees’ First Amendment rights, the report says.
In the report, one official identified only as “Commissioner A” recommended two applicants for a position. Another identified as “Commissioner B” recommended six, while a third dubbed “Commissioner C” recommended a candidate and hired two employees who are children of his business partners, according to the report. Seventeen applicants said they were recommended to the position by a board staff member or someone affiliated, while eight applicants said they were recommended by other politicians or had been working for other political offices.
Examples cited in the report include a residential analyst who found out about her job opening because Commissioner C and her father are partners at a law firm, and an administrative assistant to Commissioner B who found out about her position because she did campaign door-knocking on the commissioner’s behalf. The secretary of the board joined the body because he knew Commissioner A through a Democratic political organization and was invited by that commissioner to come work for the board, according to the report.
Although some employees maintained their political work was voluntary, the report found “BOR leadership regularly and systemically solicits lower level employees to participate in political work on behalf of Commissioners.” An appeals analyst said when Commissioner A ran for office and needed signatures, she worried about not being able to help because she already was getting signatures for someone else, according to the report. She met with the commissioner to explain because “I did not want him thinking I’m not a team player. He was very understanding,” the report said.
The report makes seven pending recommendations that include a written employment plan for transparent hiring practices, employment procedures such as public online postings and reporting protocols if political factors are being used, prohibition of after-work socials or solicitation of political support, and officewide training.
Cabonargi stated to the Tribune that the board already is implementing some recommendations, such as posting open jobs online and writing job descriptions.
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ayin@chicagotribune.com


Corrections and clarifications

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Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards .
Everyone in @ @ @ @ @ live up to this code of conduct .
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· A story on the front page of the Business section on Wednesday incorrectly stated that the $52.8 million Illinois collected in tax revenue during the first six months of recreational marijuana sales was nearly double budget estimates. In fact, it only exceeded estimates.
· An op-ed column Thursday incorrectly stated author Dennis Byrne’s characterization of Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The column should have stated that Pritzker is “a billionaire with no firsthand acquaintance with checking accounts drying up and pink slips arriving, has demonstrated that he hasn’t an inkling about the misery that he has caused.”
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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--2020-07-16--Facing up to 60 years for killing 5-year-old AJ Freund, his mom tells court: ‘I miss him and there’s

Facing up to 60 years for killing 5-year-old AJ Freund, his mom tells court: ‘I miss him and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to bring him back’

At times , as the video rolled , she wiped away tears and blew her nose .
The television monitor @ @ @ @ @ , so Cunningham and others in the courtroom gallery could not see the images .
@ @ @ @ @ the boy was piped through the courtroom and an overflow room where the media , @ @ @ @ @ boy ’ s disappearance and members of the public viewed the proceedings .

JoAnn Cunningham, 37, reacts as a sentence of 35 years is announced, July 17, 2020, for the murder of son, AJ Freund. (John Starks/Daily Herald)
For 15 months, ever since the battered remains of her 5-year-old son were found, breaking the hearts of a community that came together in a desperate six-day search for him, JoAnn Cunningham has been portrayed as heartless and without redemption.
At Cunningham’s sentencing hearing Thursday for murdering the boy, a McHenry County prosecutor referred to her with disgust as a “horror of a human being.” Even her own lawyers said they would not try to “defend, explain or justify” her actions, though they noted her difficult life fueled her drug addiction and rage.
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But, for the first time since her arrest, Cunningham offered a self-assessment. In a tearful, rambling speech to the judge, the 37-year-old Crystal Lake woman insisted she is “a child of God,” and deserving of mercy.
“I’m a loving, kind, compassionate woman who has feelings and loves deeply,” she said in a seven-minute speech. “I’m human. I ask God to make me a better person every day and to give me my heart and joy back.”
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She continued, “As much as I deserve punishment, I believe I deserve help. Please help me.”
Whether her tears and words had any impact will be revealed Friday in Woodstock, when Judge Robert Wilbrandt announces her punishment in a case that provoked a maelstrom of public outcry due to its cruelty and also the repeated failures by the state’s child welfare system to intervene.
Cunningham faces 20 to 60 years in prison for fatally abusing her son AJ Freund in April 2019.
Supporters from the group ROAR for AJ hold signs outside the McHenry County Courthouse on July 16, 2020, in advance of the sentencing of JoAnn Cunningham for the murder of her son AJ Freund. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
She had maintained her innocence ever since AJ was reported missing April 18, 2019. But in December, after prosecutors confronted her with a mountain of damning evidence, including newly disclosed cellphone video footage of an earlier attack on the boy, Cunningham pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
Holding a handwritten statement, she begged for mercy Thursday and said she would “give my life to have AJ back. ... This is something I will never escape from. I am impacted forever by my heartless choices.”
“My heart and my mind are consumed with pain, sadness, grief, unceasing anguish and extreme remorse,” she said. “There is a great sorrow in my heart. I will never be able to justify anything nor do I ever want to.”
In a stinging plea for the maximum sentence, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally recounted AJ’s final, dying moments and the pain he endured. He said the community has yet to recover and will forever mourn the boy.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 19 AJ Freund is held by his parents, Andrew Freund and JoAnn Cunningham in December 2014. The photo was taken at a baby shower for his mother, who was pregnant with her third child. AJ was about 14 months old. The couple had lost custody of him at birth due to drug use, and they were still trying to regain custody of AJ while remaining in drug treatment and after-care programs. (Family photo)
“He lived his life in the shadow of her darkness,” said Kenneally, arguing Cunningham is only sad for herself and concocted stories of childhood traumas to glean sympathy.
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“She hasn’t been sitting here crying for AJ. She’s been sitting here crying for herself. ... No remorse. No regret is expressed. And she still will not let us write the final chapter on AJ’s life by coming clean about what she did.”
Cunningham, wearing orange jail garb and a mask, her hair braided, sat through hours of testimony that included graphic photos of her battered son and cellphone video footage depicting some of the abuse. The television monitor was faced toward the judge, so Cunningham and others in the courtroom gallery could not see the images.
But audio of her berating the boy was piped through the courtroom and an overflow room where the media, FBI agents who investigated the boy’s disappearance and members of the public viewed the proceedings. A few members of AJ’s family temporarily left the courtroom before the videos were played.
A prosecution witness, Dr. JoEllen Channon, testified about a large bruise on AJ’s hip she had examined Dec. 18, 2018, just four months before he died. Channon said when she interviewed AJ alone about the cause of the bruise, his story shifted and the child suggested his mother was responsible.
“Maybe (mommy) didn’t mean to hurt me,” she said, quoting the boy.
Concerned that further prodding by her would compromise the investigation, Channon said she concluded AJ needed to be questioned by a trained forensic interviewer and examined by a child-abuse pediatrician. She notified state child welfare officials, but Channon said the investigator told her none were available.
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Two Crystal Lake police officers also testified about the dilapidated, filthy condition of the family’s home in December 2018, when the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services allowed the boy to go back home, and also months later on the day AJ was reported missing. The house has since been demolished.
Cunningham and the boy’s father, Andrew Freund, were charged April 24, 2019, after AJ’s body was discovered in a shallow grave following a frantic, six-day search. The case against Freund, 61, is pending. He did not testify Thursday.
Prosecutors also revealed video footage and text messages that showed Cunningham’s attempts to cover up the crime days after AJ had been killed. It was Freund who reported him missing that April 18. At the police station, Cunningham while alone in an interview room softly prays.
“Dear Father, please make sure AJ is safe and he comes home,” she said, her hands clasped in prayer.
At times tearful, she pleads with police to find AJ before something bad happens to him because there’s “many creeps out there.”
“He’s got to be so scared,” she said of AJ, later asking the officer to make sure someone is at her home “in case he comes home.” When the officer asks her if he can get Cunningham anything, she replied, “My son.”
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10 Andrew Freund was arrested on Oct. 25, 2012, for domestic battery for an argument in his home involving an ex-roommate. (Crystal Lake Police Department)
Also, in text messages between AJ’s parents over the 72 hours before he was reported missing, Cunningham and Freund act as if he was still alive, including when the mother said AJ was having a good day.
“He’s such a charmer when he’s good,” she texted Freund, days after the boy’s April 15, 2019, slaying. “Lots of hugs.”
Throughout his short life, AJ was the subject of many police and child welfare contacts. DCFS took him into protective custody at birth after AJ was born in October 2013 with heroin in his system. The unwed couple got the boy back when he was about 20 months old and remained sober until 2018, when DCFS responded to a handful of hotline calls, including two when AJ had suspicious bruising.
In an especially poignant moment in the proceedings, Cunningham’s cousin told the judge about the impact of losing AJ. She raised the boy for nearly two years and hoped to adopt him but instead was forced to return the boy to his parents in June 2015 after they became sober and complied with other court orders.
The woman, who is raising AJ’s two younger siblings, a 5-year-old brother and nearly 14-month-old sister, has asked not to be publicly identified.
“He was a beautiful, perfect little boy who was loving and fun, caring and compassionate,” she said through tears. “(AJ) loved to play and do puzzles. He was just the perfect little boy.”
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Cunningham’s attorneys, Rick Behof and Angelo Mourelatos, requested after her guilty plea that she receive a psychological, psychiatric and substance abuse evaluation prior to this week’s sentencing. In the hearing’s mitigation phase, they presented evidence of her difficult life, including that she has been in abusive relationships and suffered repeated losses, especially the 2001 suicide of her only sibling, Joseph, 21, with whom she was close.
As a young mother, Cunningham was devoted to her firstborn child, now 20, for the first several years of his life and even was a licensed foster parent for a brief time in 2011 for another boy. But, according to public records and courtroom testimony, her life had begun to unravel not long afterward amid a volatile 2012 divorce and the protracted custody battle with her mother in 2013 over the oldest son.
Behof held up two photos of Cunningham. One of her before drugs, one after. He said she wasn’t strong enough to overcome her traumatic childhood, abusive relationships, mental health problems and drug addiction.
“And most importantly, she was not strong enough to protect AJ, and that’s why we are here,” he told the judge. “I ask you to look at her life in its entirety.”
But the cruelty displayed in cellphone videos that Cunningham had filmed was inescapable.
Prosecutors found a March 27, 2019, video from Cunningham’s cellphone in which she is seen grabbing the boy by his throat and pushing him against a bathroom wall until he chokes for air. AJ has visible cuts and bruises on his face and forehead, according to prosecutors. Cunningham had cornered him after AJ remarked he was going to get her in trouble with “someone.”
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On the video, prosecutors said, AJ is heard telling his parents he loves his family. Cunningham responds, “Bull----, you don’t show it.” She continues to taunt him, asking the boy if he thinks his parents and younger brother “do evil in this house,” to which AJ says, “no, just me.” At one point, after AJ said, “I just don’t want a family,” Cunningham responds to her 5-year-old son that he does not have one.
The video is in addition to one from March 4, 2019, also recovered from Cunningham’s cellphone, in which, prosecutors said, she is heard berating the badly beaten boy.
Prosecutors have said Cunningham filmed the first cellphone video in AJ’s bedroom to send to Freund, who was at work. It’s unclear why the couple filmed the later one taken inside the bathroom in which AJ is choked and both parents were present.
Prosecutors also provided evidence from AJ’s autopsy, which has not been made public. Besides fatal head injuries, and cuts and bruises across his body and limbs, the child inhaled his own blood before his painful death and had small, circular marks on his forehead consistent with the pattern of a detachable shower head.
Relatives have described the boy as inquisitive and bright who loved Thomas the Tank Engine, puzzles, books and his brothers. He also loved superheroes, especially Superman. Cunningham, too, said he was special.
“I had the pride of having AJ as a son,” she said, describing his birth as “one of the happiest days of my life.”
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cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com