chicagotribune--2020-12-08--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Dec. 7 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Illinois health officials on Monday announced 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 90 additional fatalities .
That brings the total number of known infections in Illinois to 796,264 and the statewide death toll to 13,343 since the start of the pandemic .
The new numbers come as Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said Monday that Illinois is entering what could be “ the most crucial month of this entire pandemic , ” a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus .
Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ann Sather restaurant got a visit from city inspectors Monday because the alderman has been allowing people to eat inside the establishment in violation of city and state rules designed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Tunney acknowledged diners have been eating inside his Belmont Avenue restaurant and called it an “ error in judgment.
” Also on Monday , the administrator of the state-run veterans home in LaSalle was fired amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 32 veterans who lived there since early November .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ state agency placed the home ’ s nursing director on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation .
On decision day for parents and teachers of Chicago Public Schools students tapped to return for in-person classes in the new year , the Chicago Teachers Union announced it had filed a legal action seeking to prevent the district from moving forward with its reopening plan .
The plan would have students in prekindergarten and moderate to severe special education cluster programs return Jan. 11 .
Other students in kindergarten through eighth grade who are enrolled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hybrid model Feb. 1 .
Union leaders on Monday filed a motion for an injunction with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board against what they think are “ arbitrary ” reopening dates and are accusing CPS officials of “ manipulating statistics to justify their decision.
” The motion aims to prevent CPS from requiring in-person learning “ until they have bargained in good faith ” about that decision .
The labor relations board rejected a similar request last month , before CPS came out with hard reopening dates .
During that hearing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case if the district set a date .
As the new COVID-19 surge continues racing through Illinois prisons , with a disturbing rise in inmate deaths in November plus the state ’ s first staff fatality , corrections officials said they will start to test all prison employees for the virus regardless of whether the workers have symptoms .
The testing will be rolled out in phases across the state , state officials said .
The frequency will depend on the positivity rate of the county where the corrections facility is located @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month , they said .
Advocates for prisoners rights , who have campaigned for more robust testing since August , are calling for a specific , expedited timeline for the testing to be implemented .
They argue that the state ’ s delays have led to avoidable infections , noting that the latest data shows that COVID-19 has infiltrated prisons across Illinois , killing at least 50 inmates since March .
Half of them have died since mid-October .
In addition to the statewide testing , the Illinois Department of Corrections said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers and inmates every three days at three downstate prisons where infections are on the rise : two men ’ s prisons in Dixon and Vandalia and Logan Correctional Center , a women ’ s prison in Lincoln .
About 100 inmates and 20 staff members at Logan are positive for the virus , with many others having recovered .
The testing is expected to continue until no new cases are identified for two weeks .
Similar testing will occur at other prisons when an outbreak inside the facility is identified , officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s nearly 30,000 prisoners will be tested only if they have symptoms or had a known exposure to the virus .
5:40 p.m. : Pritzker says next four weeks could be ‘ the most crucial month of this entire pandemic ’ Illinois is entering what could be “ the most crucial month of this entire pandemic , ” Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said Monday , a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus .
Though the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 , patients it ’ s still 14 % higher than the spring peak during the initial surge of the pandemic .
“ It ’ s likely too early for us to have yet seen the bulk of Thanksgiving-related hospitalizations .
We ’ re now in our 11th day since Thanksgiving and we are four days out from Hanukkah and 18 days from Christmas , 19 days from Kwanzaa , 24 from New Year ’ s Eve , ” Pritzker said Monday .
“ These next four weeks may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire pandemic .
We quite literally have very limited leeway in our hospital systems to manage another surge.
” Surrounding and flanking the base of Waukegan ’ s municipal Christmas tree at Jack Benny Plaza Saturday were at least two dozen luminarias already aglow as local officials prepared for the annual tree-lighting festivities .
By Sunday afternoon , in an event that was not virtual , there were more than 6,300 similar luminarias spread over 11 square blocks of southeast Waukegan by Beacon Place volunteers to give people hope as they celebrate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sam Cunningham lit the 15-foot Douglas fir Saturday at a decorated Jack Benny Plaza in downtown Waukegan to officially start the holiday season in the city , with a few socially distanced onlookers as others watched it virtually on their electronic devices .
In an event which usually attracts hundreds , Josh Beadle , the executive director of Waukegan Main Street -- who helped to organize the event -- said it was necessary to make the event virtual this year .
Cunningham said he hopes this will be the last time .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police union on Monday that it needs to ensure its member officers are wearing face masks and maintaining safe social distances while on the job , in keeping with public health guidelines around COVID-19 .
The pointed reminder from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow Jr. , who is overseeing sweeping mandated department reforms , came after the Fraternal Order of Police filed a motion alleging the city was violating its own health guidelines .
Officers have been put at risk when the Chicago Police Department conducted training sessions that included up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The union also accused the city of failing to provide enough protective equipment during those department meetings .
In requesting a temporary restraining order , the FOP said that by allowing officers to become “ superspreaders , ” city officials were putting not only officers at risk , but also their families and residents of Chicago .
Dow instructed the city to respond by Thursday , outlining the precautions being taken to prevent the spread of the virus .
But the judge concluded his order by reminding the FOP to look inward regarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on patrol are already not adhering to COVID-19 guidelines .
3:25 p.m. : With thousands still on waitlist , additional $ 7 million in federal coronavirus relief funding to go toward Cook County ’ s in-demand cash assistance program Cook County officials on Monday reopened a cash assistance program for people who have lost wages or otherwise suffered financially after demand for the one-time $ 600 payment far exceeded expectations during the ongoing pandemic-induced recession .
From Monday to Friday of this week , suburban residents can once again apply for the county @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which will directly transfer $ 600 to those who are eligible .
Applications are available online at https : //www.cookcountyil.gov/recovery .
The administrator of the state-run veterans home in LaSalle was fired Monday amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 32 veterans who lived there since early November .
Administrator Angela Mehlbrech was fired by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and will be replaced on an interim basis by Anthony Vaughn , the agency ’ s acting assistant director and a 24-year Marine Corps veteran , the department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LaVia wrote in a letter to staff at the home that they should not have contact with Mehlbrech or Cook without Vaughn signing off first .
“ Staff are directed to not have any work-related contact with Ms. Angela Mehlbrech or Ms. Jackie Cook without the director approval of Mr. Vaughn , ” Chapa LaVia wrote .
1:20 p.m. : Wrigleyville alderman allowed diners inside his restaurant in violation of COVID-19 rules , calls it an ‘ error in judgment ’ Wrigleyville Ald .
Tom Tunney ’ s Ann Sather restaurant got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alderman has been allowing people to eat inside the establishment in violation of city and state rules designed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Tunney , a key member of Mayor Lori Lightfoot ’ s City Council leadership team as her hand-picked chair of the Zoning Committee , acknowledged diners have been eating inside his Belmont Avenue restaurant and called it an “ error in judgment.
” “ We ’ ve been sporadically letting some people in , regulars at the restaurant , to accommodate them from time to time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s done .
It will not continue , as of today.
” 12:56 p.m. : Even before COVID-19 , more than 100 people a day were leaving Chicago Whether it ’ s wealthy people fleeing to their second homes or college students forced to move back in with their parents , the coronavirus has set off a great migration in the U.S. this year .
But in many cases , it ’ s just amplifying trends that were already there .
New York City , for example , was losing 376 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 — an increase of more than 100 per day from the previous year — before it became the epicenter of the country ’ s virus outbreak in March this year , according to the U.S. Census Bureau ’ s latest survey of population shifts .
The shrinking of New York would be significantly faster without international arrivals .
Last year , almost 60,000 cross-border migrants moved there ( only Miami had more ) while 200,000 residents left .
Los Angeles and Chicago were among other cities to see daily departures in triple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losing population since 2017 .
That ’ s at least somewhat at odds with a widespread COVID-19 narrative that portrays cities booming at the expense of small towns until the pandemic struck .
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 90 additional fatalities , bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 796,264 and the statewide death toll to 13,343 since the start of the pandemic .
Officials also reported 77,569 new tests in the last 24 hours .
10:42 a.m. : Millions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the 1st time : ‘ This is a hard thing to accept that you have to do this ’ The deadly pandemic that tore through the nation ’ s heartland struck just as Aaron Crawford was in a moment of crisis .
He was looking for work , his wife needed surgery , then the virus began eating away at her work hours and her paycheck .
The Crawfords had no savings , mounting bills and a growing dread : What if they ran out of food ?
The couple had two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boxes of macaroni and cheese from the dollar store could go only so far .
A 37-year-old Navy vet , Crawford saw himself as self-reliant .
Asking for food made him uncomfortable .
“ I felt like I was a failure , ” he says .
“ It ’ s this whole stigma ... this mindset that you ’ re this guy who can ’ t provide for his family , that you ’ re a deadbeat.
” Hunger is a harsh reality in the richest country in the world .
Even during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions of hot meals a day to children , and desperate elderly Americans are sometimes forced to choose between medicine and food .
Now , in the pandemic of 2020 , with illness , job loss and business closures , millions more Americans are worried about empty refrigerators and barren cupboards .
10 a.m. : Better order those gifts now .
Retailers are warning of shipping delays as millions shop online .
Here ’ s what to know .
Shipping companies like UPS and FedEx say they have been handling package volumes usually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all year as people shop online to avoid trips to stores during the pandemic .
American Airlines says the rise in COVID-19 cases and a growing number of travel restrictions leading into the Thanksgiving holiday is slowing demand for travel and will push its daily losses to the higher end of previous expectations .
In an investor update released Friday morning , American said its daily cash burn will come in at the high end of its $ 25 million to $ 30 million day forecast for the fourth quarter , a time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in renewed confidence in the pandemic-weary sector .
But with new COVID-19 cases growing to more than 1.1 million in the U.S. in the last seven days , according to government data , airlines are warning that their financial recovery won ’ t be as robust heading into the winter months .
8:27 a.m. : ‘ What are we going to do when we lose the unemployment money ?
’ Millions fear cutoff of US jobless aid Tina Morton recently faced a choice : Pay bills — or buy a birthday gift for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ further behind on rent .
Sylvia Soliz has had her electricity cut off .
Unemployment has forced aching decisions on millions of Americans and their families in the face of a rampaging viral pandemic that has closed shops and restaurants , paralyzed travel and left millions jobless for months .
Now , their predicaments stand to grow bleaker yet if Congress fails to extend two unemployment programs that are set to expire the day after Christmas .
If no agreement is reached in negotiations taking place on Capitol Hill , more than 9 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that averages about $ 320 a week and that typically serves as their only source of income .
With time running out , lawmakers on Sunday closed in on a proposed COVID-19 relief bill that would provide roughly $ 300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits but not another round of $ 1,200 in direct payments to most Americans , leaving that issue for President-elect Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year .
The cash payments were popular when they were first distributed after the pandemic hit , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a second wave might come after weekend negotiations .
But senators involved in the talks said the checks won ’ t be included as part of the compromise , even as Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt. , and others said that could cause them to oppose the measure .
The Red Cross and other blood donation organizations often have difficulty bringing in enough blood donations during the winter holidays , but as coronavirus cases surge , the Red Cross says this year , it ’ s even more crucial people to donate blood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dec. and Jan. 4 will receive a free long-sleeve Red Cross T-shirt , “ while supplies last , ” according to the Red Cross .
6:55 a.m. : Cook County to announce extension of resident cash assistance program Cook County Board President Preckwinkle , other county officials and representatives from restaurant and retail groups were scheduled to announce Monday an extension of the county ’ s coronavirus cash assistance program .
The COVID-19 Resident Cash Assistance Program , announced in November , originally included $ 2.1 million in federal coronavirus funds to give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of $ 600 .
The original program had been expected to serve about 3,000 people .
Officials were scheduled to discuss the program at a news conference Monday afternoon at the Cook County Building .
6 a.m. : Vaccine shortages have led to theft , smuggling and doses going to the famous instead of the needy .
Will it happen again with COVID-19 ?
Sixteen years ago , in the middle of a wretched Chicago Bears season , a scandal erupted at Halas Hall that had nothing to do with inept quarterbacking or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bears ’ misery , it remains relevant today .
An acute shortage of influenza vaccine gripped the country in the fall of 2004 , forcing the elderly to wait in hourslong lines for a dose , often without success .
The scarcity became such a hot political issue that both President Bush and his election challenger , John Kerry , forswore flu shots until the crisis eased .
But even as Illinois flu clinics closed for want of the vaccine , the Bears obtained shots through their prescribing physician and offered them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condition who fell far outside the rationing guidelines established by federal health officials .
The uproar in Lake Forest was just one small part of a national ruckus over the vaccine that lasted for months .
Along with cries of unfairness came reports of more sinister matters such as theft , smuggling and price gouging .
As America prepares to distribute another scarce vaccine , some are wary that history could repeat .
Interpol is warning that criminals are scheming to intercept COVID-19 vaccines , and federal officials have raised concerns about counterfeit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Georges Benjamin , executive director of the American Public Health Association .
“ My biggest fear is not so much that too many celebrities will get it first , ” he said .
“ Tragically , that ’ s going to happen .
I just hope there ’ s not a lot of it .
My biggest fear is the black market and the false market .
I ’ m concerned about people fraudulently selling vaccine and people being defrauded by ( phony promises ) .
” 6 a.m. : It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closing schools — it ’ s a lack of substitute teachers .
The shortage has reached crisis levels in some districts .
A nationwide shortage of substitute teachers was a chronic problem long before the arrival of the pandemic .
But now , a dearth of available subs across the Chicago area has reached a crisis level at many school districts , where the roster of educators available to step in when teachers are absent has dwindled precipitously at a time of unprecedented need for their services .
Indeed , the prospect of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continues to rage has discouraged the squad of loyal retired teachers and part-timers who often fill the ranks .
Many have told school district officials that the potential health risks are not worth the extra income .
That ’ s happened as the number of teachers and other school employees in quarantine is spiking alongside the latest surge of the virus , only pushing the demand higher .
In response , some districts are stepping up their substitute recruitment efforts to preserve in-person instruction .
But others are concluding that remote learning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps the best option , at least until early 2021 .

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 90 additional fatalities. That brings the total number of known infections in Illinois to 796,264 and the statewide death toll to 13,343 since the start of the pandemic.
The new numbers come as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that Illinois is entering what could be “the most crucial month of this entire pandemic,” a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
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Meanwhile, Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney’s Ann Sather restaurant got a visit from city inspectors Monday because the alderman has been allowing people to eat inside the establishment in violation of city and state rules designed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Tunney acknowledged diners have been eating inside his Belmont Avenue restaurant and called it an “error in judgment.”
Also on Monday, the administrator of the state-run veterans home in LaSalle was fired amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 32 veterans who lived there since early November. In addition to the firing, the state agency placed the home’s nursing director on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation.
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Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8 p.m.: CTU seeks legal action to stop ‘arbitrary’ CPS reopening plan
On decision day for parents and teachers of Chicago Public Schools students tapped to return for in-person classes in the new year, the Chicago Teachers Union announced it had filed a legal action seeking to prevent the district from moving forward with its reopening plan.
The plan would have students in prekindergarten and moderate to severe special education cluster programs return Jan. 11. Other students in kindergarten through eighth grade who are enrolled in elementary schools would return in a hybrid model Feb. 1.
Union leaders on Monday filed a motion for an injunction with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board against what they think are “arbitrary” reopening dates and are accusing CPS officials of “manipulating statistics to justify their decision.” The motion aims to prevent CPS from requiring in-person learning “until they have bargained in good faith” about that decision.
The labor relations board rejected a similar request last month, before CPS came out with hard reopening dates. During that hearing, board members discussed the possibility of reconsidering the case if the district set a date.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
7:55 p.m.: Illinois to expand testing of prison workers as inmate deaths, infections surge
As the new COVID-19 surge continues racing through Illinois prisons, with a disturbing rise in inmate deaths in November plus the state’s first staff fatality, corrections officials said they will start to test all prison employees for the virus regardless of whether the workers have symptoms.
The testing will be rolled out in phases across the state, state officials said. The frequency will depend on the positivity rate of the county where the corrections facility is located but will be at least once a month, they said.
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Advocates for prisoners rights, who have campaigned for more robust testing since August, are calling for a specific, expedited timeline for the testing to be implemented. They argue that the state’s delays have led to avoidable infections, noting that the latest data shows that COVID-19 has infiltrated prisons across Illinois, killing at least 50 inmates since March. Half of them have died since mid-October.
In addition to the statewide testing, the Illinois Department of Corrections said that beginning this week, it will test workers and inmates every three days at three downstate prisons where infections are on the rise: two men’s prisons in Dixon and Vandalia and Logan Correctional Center, a women’s prison in Lincoln.
About 100 inmates and 20 staff members at Logan are positive for the virus, with many others having recovered. The testing is expected to continue until no new cases are identified for two weeks.
Similar testing will occur at other prisons when an outbreak inside the facility is identified, officials said. The rest of the state’s nearly 30,000 prisoners will be tested only if they have symptoms or had a known exposure to the virus.
Read more here. —Christy Gutowski
5:40 p.m.: Pritzker says next four weeks could be ‘the most crucial month of this entire pandemic’
Illinois is entering what could be “the most crucial month of this entire pandemic,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday, a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
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Though the state has recently seen a slight decrease in the hospitalization rate for COVID-19, patients it’s still 14% higher than the spring peak during the initial surge of the pandemic.
“It’s likely too early for us to have yet seen the bulk of Thanksgiving-related hospitalizations. We’re now in our 11th day since Thanksgiving and we are four days out from Hanukkah and 18 days from Christmas, 19 days from Kwanzaa, 24 from New Year’s Eve,” Pritzker said Monday. “These next four weeks may be the most crucial month of this entire pandemic. We quite literally have very limited leeway in our hospital systems to manage another surge.”
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
4:35 p.m.: Waukegan stages COVID-conscious Christmas events: ‘We’re all in this together’
Surrounding and flanking the base of Waukegan’s municipal Christmas tree at Jack Benny Plaza Saturday were at least two dozen luminarias already aglow as local officials prepared for the annual tree-lighting festivities.
“They’re at City Hall too,” City Clerk Janet Kilkelly said of the luminarias.
By Sunday afternoon, in an event that was not virtual, there were more than 6,300 similar luminarias spread over 11 square blocks of southeast Waukegan by Beacon Place volunteers to give people hope as they celebrate the holidays during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Mayor Sam Cunningham lit the 15-foot Douglas fir Saturday at a decorated Jack Benny Plaza in downtown Waukegan to officially start the holiday season in the city, with a few socially distanced onlookers as others watched it virtually on their electronic devices.
In an event which usually attracts hundreds, Josh Beadle, the executive director of Waukegan Main Street -- who helped to organize the event -- said it was necessary to make the event virtual this year. Cunningham said he hopes this will be the last time.
Read more here. —Steve Sadin, Lake County News-Sun
4:20 p.m.: Judge pointedly reminds Chicago police to wear masks as union accuses city of holding unsafe training sessions during pandemic
A federal judge told Chicago’s main police union on Monday that it needs to ensure its member officers are wearing face masks and maintaining safe social distances while on the job, in keeping with public health guidelines around COVID-19.
The pointed reminder from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow Jr., who is overseeing sweeping mandated department reforms, came after the Fraternal Order of Police filed a motion alleging the city was violating its own health guidelines. Officers have been put at risk when the Chicago Police Department conducted training sessions that included up to 50 people, the union alleged.
The union also accused the city of failing to provide enough protective equipment during those department meetings. In requesting a temporary restraining order, the FOP said that by allowing officers to become “superspreaders,” city officials were putting not only officers at risk, but also their families and residents of Chicago.
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Dow instructed the city to respond by Thursday, outlining the precautions being taken to prevent the spread of the virus. But the judge concluded his order by reminding the FOP to look inward regarding the rules, citing evidence that officers on patrol are already not adhering to COVID-19 guidelines.
Read more here. —Annie Sweeney and Jason Meisner
3:25 p.m.: With thousands still on waitlist, additional $7 million in federal coronavirus relief funding to go toward Cook County’s in-demand cash assistance program
Cook County officials on Monday reopened a cash assistance program for people who have lost wages or otherwise suffered financially after demand for the one-time $600 payment far exceeded expectations during the ongoing pandemic-induced recession.
From Monday to Friday of this week, suburban residents can once again apply for the county’s COVID-19 Resident Cash Assistance Program, which will directly transfer $600 to those who are eligible. Applications are available online at https://www.cookcountyil.gov/recovery.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
2:30 p.m.: Administrator fired, nursing director placed on leave amid deadly coronavirus outbreak at Illinois veterans home in LaSalle
The administrator of the state-run veterans home in LaSalle was fired Monday amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 32 veterans who lived there since early November.
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Administrator Angela Mehlbrech was fired by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and will be replaced on an interim basis by Anthony Vaughn, the agency’s acting assistant director and a 24-year Marine Corps veteran, the department said Monday.
In addition to firing Mehlbrech, the state agency placed the home’s nursing director, Jackie Cook, on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation.
Department Director Linda Chapa LaVia wrote in a letter to staff at the home that they should not have contact with Mehlbrech or Cook without Vaughn signing off first.
“Staff are directed to not have any work-related contact with Ms. Angela Mehlbrech or Ms. Jackie Cook without the director approval of Mr. Vaughn,” Chapa LaVia wrote.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks
1:20 p.m.: Wrigleyville alderman allowed diners inside his restaurant in violation of COVID-19 rules, calls it an ‘error in judgment’
Wrigleyville Ald. Tom Tunney’s Ann Sather restaurant got a visit from city inspectors Monday because the alderman has been allowing people to eat inside the establishment in violation of city and state rules designed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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Tunney, a key member of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s City Council leadership team as her hand-picked chair of the Zoning Committee, acknowledged diners have been eating inside his Belmont Avenue restaurant and called it an “error in judgment.”
“We’ve been sporadically letting some people in, regulars at the restaurant, to accommodate them from time to time,” Tunney said Monday. “It’s done. It will not continue, as of today.”
Read more here. —John Byrne and Gregory Pratt
12:56 p.m.: Even before COVID-19, more than 100 people a day were leaving Chicago
Whether it’s wealthy people fleeing to their second homes or college students forced to move back in with their parents, the coronavirus has set off a great migration in the U.S. this year. But in many cases, it’s just amplifying trends that were already there.
New York City, for example, was losing 376 residents per day to domestic migration in 2019 — an increase of more than 100 per day from the previous year — before it became the epicenter of the country’s virus outbreak in March this year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest survey of population shifts.
The shrinking of New York would be significantly faster without international arrivals. Last year, almost 60,000 cross-border migrants moved there (only Miami had more) while 200,000 residents left.
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Los Angeles and Chicago were among other cities to see daily departures in triple digits last year. Both have been losing population since 2017. That’s at least somewhat at odds with a widespread COVID-19 narrative that portrays cities booming at the expense of small towns until the pandemic struck.
Read more here. —Bloomberg News
12:03 p.m.: 8,691 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 90 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 90 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 796,264 and the statewide death toll to 13,343 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 77,569 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 10.3% for the period ending Sunday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
10:42 a.m.: Millions of hungry Americans turn to food banks for the 1st time: ‘This is a hard thing to accept that you have to do this’
The deadly pandemic that tore through the nation’s heartland struck just as Aaron Crawford was in a moment of crisis. He was looking for work, his wife needed surgery, then the virus began eating away at her work hours and her paycheck.
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The Crawfords had no savings, mounting bills and a growing dread: What if they ran out of food? The couple had two boys, 5 and 10, and boxes of macaroni and cheese from the dollar store could go only so far.
A 37-year-old Navy vet, Crawford saw himself as self-reliant. Asking for food made him uncomfortable. “I felt like I was a failure,” he says. “It’s this whole stigma ... this mindset that you’re this guy who can’t provide for his family, that you’re a deadbeat.”
Hunger is a harsh reality in the richest country in the world. Even during times of prosperity, schools hand out millions of hot meals a day to children, and desperate elderly Americans are sometimes forced to choose between medicine and food.
Now, in the pandemic of 2020, with illness, job loss and business closures, millions more Americans are worried about empty refrigerators and barren cupboards.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10 a.m.: Better order those gifts now. Retailers are warning of shipping delays as millions shop online. Here’s what to know.
This isn’t the year to procrastinate on your online holiday shopping.
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Retailers are warning that orders could take longer than usual to arrive because consumers are increasingly buying everyday essentials and holiday gifts online.
Shipping companies like UPS and FedEx say they have been handling package volumes usually seen during the height of the holidays all year as people shop online to avoid trips to stores during the pandemic.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
9:52 a.m.: CDC’s ‘stay home’ advice is more terrible news for airlines
American Airlines says the rise in COVID-19 cases and a growing number of travel restrictions leading into the Thanksgiving holiday is slowing demand for travel and will push its daily losses to the higher end of previous expectations.
In an investor update released Friday morning, American said its daily cash burn will come in at the high end of its $25 million to $30 million day forecast for the fourth quarter, a time period that airlines had hoped would result in renewed confidence in the pandemic-weary sector.
But with new COVID-19 cases growing to more than 1.1 million in the U.S. in the last seven days, according to government data, airlines are warning that their financial recovery won’t be as robust heading into the winter months.
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Read more here. —The Dallas Morning News
8:27 a.m.: ‘What are we going to do when we lose the unemployment money?’ Millions fear cutoff of US jobless aid
Tina Morton recently faced a choice: Pay bills — or buy a birthday gift for a child? Derrisa Green is falling further behind on rent. Sylvia Soliz has had her electricity cut off.
Unemployment has forced aching decisions on millions of Americans and their families in the face of a rampaging viral pandemic that has closed shops and restaurants, paralyzed travel and left millions jobless for months. Now, their predicaments stand to grow bleaker yet if Congress fails to extend two unemployment programs that are set to expire the day after Christmas.
If no agreement is reached in negotiations taking place on Capitol Hill, more than 9 million people will lose federal jobless aid that averages about $320 a week and that typically serves as their only source of income.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:45 a.m.: Lawmakers say COVID-19 relief bill won’t offer $1,200 checks direct payments to most Americans
With time running out, lawmakers on Sunday closed in on a proposed COVID-19 relief bill that would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits but not another round of $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, leaving that issue for President-elect Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year.
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The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend.
The cash payments were popular when they were first distributed after the pandemic hit, and Biden on Friday had expressed hope that a second wave might come after weekend negotiations.
But senators involved in the talks said the checks won’t be included as part of the compromise, even as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and others said that could cause them to oppose the measure.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:05 a.m.: Red Cross appeals for blood donations as COVID-19 cases surge
The Red Cross and other blood donation organizations often have difficulty bringing in enough blood donations during the winter holidays, but as coronavirus cases surge, the Red Cross says this year, it’s even more crucial people to donate blood and platelets.
The Red Cross is appealing to anyone who feels well enough to do so to donate blood.
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“Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, more than 1 million blood transfusions will be given in the United States. Donations of all blood types are needed to ensure hospital shelves remain stocked to meet patient blood needs.”
The need for what’s known as convalescent plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus, used to treat people with COVID-19, is especially high now, according to the Red Cross. So the agency is testing all blood donations for coronavirus antibodies, to see if donors “may now help current coronavirus patients in need of convalescent plasma transfusions,” according to the agency.
People can arrange to donate blood, plasma or platelets by making an appointment through the Red Cross Blood Donor App, on the website RedCrossBlood.org, by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device, according to the release.
For a list of blood drives, check the agency’s website.
Anyone who donates between Dec. and Jan. 4 will receive a free long-sleeve Red Cross T-shirt, “while supplies last,” according to the Red Cross.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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6:55 a.m.: Cook County to announce extension of resident cash assistance program
Cook County Board President Preckwinkle, other county officials and representatives from restaurant and retail groups were scheduled to announce Monday an extension of the county’s coronavirus cash assistance program.
The COVID-19 Resident Cash Assistance Program, announced in November, originally included $2.1 million in federal coronavirus funds to give suburban Cook County residents one-time cash payments of $600. The original program had been expected to serve about 3,000 people.
Officials were scheduled to discuss the program at a news conference Monday afternoon at the Cook County Building.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Vaccine shortages have led to theft, smuggling and doses going to the famous instead of the needy. Will it happen again with COVID-19?
Sixteen years ago, in the middle of a wretched Chicago Bears season, a scandal erupted at Halas Hall that had nothing to do with inept quarterbacking or sketchy play calling — but like the Bears’ misery, it remains relevant today.
An acute shortage of influenza vaccine gripped the country in the fall of 2004, forcing the elderly to wait in hourslong lines for a dose, often without success. The scarcity became such a hot political issue that both President Bush and his election challenger, John Kerry, forswore flu shots until the crisis eased.
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But even as Illinois flu clinics closed for want of the vaccine, the Bears obtained shots through their prescribing physician and offered them to players — young men in superb physical condition who fell far outside the rationing guidelines established by federal health officials.
The uproar in Lake Forest was just one small part of a national ruckus over the vaccine that lasted for months. Along with cries of unfairness came reports of more sinister matters such as theft, smuggling and price gouging.
As America prepares to distribute another scarce vaccine, some are wary that history could repeat. Interpol is warning that criminals are scheming to intercept COVID-19 vaccines, and federal officials have raised concerns about counterfeit doses — the scenario that most worries Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
“My biggest fear is not so much that too many celebrities will get it first,” he said. “Tragically, that’s going to happen. I just hope there’s not a lot of it. My biggest fear is the black market and the false market. I’m concerned about people fraudulently selling vaccine and people being defrauded by (phony promises).”
Read more here. —John Keilman
6 a.m.: It’s not just COVID-19 that’s closing schools — it’s a lack of substitute teachers. The shortage has reached crisis levels in some districts.
A nationwide shortage of substitute teachers was a chronic problem long before the arrival of the pandemic. But now, a dearth of available subs across the Chicago area has reached a crisis level at many school districts, where the roster of educators available to step in when teachers are absent has dwindled precipitously at a time of unprecedented need for their services.
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Indeed, the prospect of working as a substitute as the virus continues to rage has discouraged the squad of loyal retired teachers and part-timers who often fill the ranks. Many have told school district officials that the potential health risks are not worth the extra income. That’s happened as the number of teachers and other school employees in quarantine is spiking alongside the latest surge of the virus, only pushing the demand higher.
In response, some districts are stepping up their substitute recruitment efforts to preserve in-person instruction. But others are concluding that remote learning, with all of its flaws, is perhaps the best option, at least until early 2021.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
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chicagotribune--2020-12-08--Longtime Chicago activist and historian Timuel Black

Timuel Black , longtime Chicago activist , historian and professor emeritus of social sciences at the City Colleges of Chicago @ @ @ @ @ UIC 's Forum , before being honored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2008 @ @ @ @ @ the South Side and is known as the `` truth teller of Chicago . ''

Timuel Black, longtime Chicago activist, historian and professor emeritus of social sciences at the City Colleges of Chicago, in the lobby of UIC's Forum, before being honored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2008. Black grew up on the South Side and is known as the "truth teller of Chicago." (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Man seriously injured after exchanging gunfire with Chicago cops who stopped his car in Rogers Park,

Man seriously injured after exchanging gunfire with Chicago cops who stopped his car in Rogers Park, police say

Yellow police tape was strung across Lunt Avenue on busy Clark Street .
To the west , tape blocked off @ @ @ @ @ Metra trains stopped at the platform above .
Officers directed passengers getting off the train @ @ @ @ @ .

A Chicago police supervisor talks with officers at the scene where shots were fired at and by police in the 6900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Dec. 8, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police shot and seriously wounded a man who opened fire on officers after they stopped his car in Rogers Park while investigating a domestic incident Tuesday evening, authorities said.
No officers were injured but four were taken to hospitals for observation, police said.
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The man was taken to Amita St. Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition, according to Chicago Deputy Fire Chief Frank Velez.
Officers pulled over the car in the 6900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue about 4:55 p.m., police said in a statement. A man got out of the car and fired several shots at the officers.
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The officers returned fire and hit the man. Police said they recovered a gun.
[ Ohio man fatally shot by police was holding a sandwich, not a gun, his family says ]
Deputy Chief of Operations Randall Darlin told reporters at the scene that tactical officers from the Rogers Park police district “were conducting a follow-up investigation into a domestic violence incident” when they spotted the suspect’s car and pulled it over.
“This is the 72nd incident this year that police officers in the city of Chicago have been fired upon,” he said.
Police did not say how many shots were fired by the man and the officers. The officers’ body cameras were operating during the shooting, police spokesman Tom Ahern said.
[ Off-duty Chicago officer involved in ‘domestic-related’ fatal shooting at Garfield Ridge home, police say ]
Yellow police tape was strung across Lunt Avenue on busy Clark Street. To the west, tape blocked off Lunt at Ravenswood where Metra trains stopped at the platform above. Officers directed passengers getting off the train to go around the scene.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability responded to the scene, and the officers involved in the shooting will be assigned to routine 30-day administrative duties, Darlin said.
Police involved shooting 6900 blk of N. Ravenswood. Shots fired at and by the police. No officers hurt. One person shot and transported to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Condition unknown. Firearm recovered. PIO in route. Media staging Farwell & Ravenswood #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/elRILeb2U0 — Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) December 8, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Man and woman found dead with gunshot wounds in garage of home in Beach Park

Lake County sheriff ’ s deputies were called to the 10000 block of Wadsworth Road around 9:40 p.m. and found @ @ @ @ @ behind the home , according to sheriff ’ s spokesman Sgt .
Chris Covelli .

A man and a woman with gunshot wounds were found dead Tuesday night in the garage of a home in Beach Park, police said.
Lake County sheriff’s deputies were called to the 10000 block of Wadsworth Road, near Sheridan Road, about 9:40 p.m. for a report of a “person down.” There they found a 49-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man in a garage behind the home, according to sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Covelli.
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Both appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds, he said.
“Sheriff’s deputies attempted lifesaving measures, however they were unsuccessful,” Covelli wrote in an email.
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Both were pronounced dead at the scene, he said. The man and woman both lived at the home, he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether one of the residents killed the other and then themself or if there was a third person who killed the two, he said.
“All possible theories of what occurred are still in play and being investigated,” Covelli said.
The Lake County coroner’s office responded and an autopsy is expected to be conducted on both the man and woman Thursday. The coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for public information.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 847-377-4000 or make an anonymous tip.
Check back for updates.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @312BreakingNews


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Daywatch: COVID-19 vaccine could be days away, DoorDash delivery service imposes ‘Chicago fee’ and C

Daywatch: COVID-19 vaccine could be days away, DoorDash delivery service imposes ‘Chicago fee’ and Chicagoans go big with holiday decor

The question may haunt the Chicago Bears for the next decade .
Or the next quarter-century .
Or longer perhaps @ @ @ @ @ Starting with , why will Sunday mark Deshaun Watson ’ s first game at Soldier @ @ @ @ @ t the Bears more interested in the talented Clemson quarterback heading into the 2017 draft @

Good morning, Chicago. Illinois public health officials on Tuesday reported 7,910 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, putting the state over 800,000 cases since the pandemic began. The state also recorded 145 more fatalities.
Meanwhile, if you find yourself needing to travel this holiday season and you’re headed to a place with COVID-19 travel restrictions, you’re in luck: Chicago airports will soon have more testing options. Both O’Hare and Midway will be opening testing sites next week and American Airlines is expanding access to at-home testing kits.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Holiday gift guide | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games
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Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, gives an update about the COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic news at City Hall on Dec. 1, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
All eyes will be on the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday when an advisory committee is set to meet and discuss Pfizer’s request for emergency-use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Thursday’s meeting marks one of the last hurdles before the Pfizer vaccine can be approved in the United States and begin shipping to health care providers, including in Illinois. Afterward, the committee will make its recommendation to the FDA, which will make the ultimate decision on approval.
Customers ordering through DoorDash Tuesday saw a $1.50 “Chicago fee” added to their orders. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
A little more than two weeks ago, the Chicago City Council took a bite at third-party delivery-service fees, imposing a 15% cap on fees that sometimes reached 30% previously.
Tuesday, one third-party delivery service nipped back. DoorDash announced the imposition of a “Chicago fee,” a $1.50 charge added to all orders placed at city restaurants.
The University of Illinois is taking new measures to try to reconcile with Native American communities, saying it will grow its American Indian Studies program and repatriate sacred artifacts to Indigenous people, among other reforms. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In its latest step to confront the controversial legacy of Chief Illiniwek, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s long-retired mascot, the school has announced new efforts to make amends, saying it will grow its American Indian Studies program and repatriate sacred artifacts to Indigenous people, among other reforms.
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson before the Week 13 game against the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 6, 2020, in Houston. (Eric Christian Smith/AP)
The question may haunt the Chicago Bears for the next decade. Or the next quarter-century. Or longer perhaps. Several whys actually. Starting with, why will Sunday mark Deshaun Watson’s first game at Soldier Field? Why weren’t the Bears more interested in the talented Clemson quarterback heading into the 2017 draft?
Why did the Bears draft Mitch Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson?
The O'Brien family stands in front of their oversized inflatable Rudolph lawn decoration at home, Dec. 8, 2020, in Oak Park. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Seeking to shine a little extra light in a difficult year, Chicagoans are going big with their 2020 holiday lawn ornaments, festooning porches that usually go bare and debuting eye-catching and over-the-top pieces: Christmas unicorns and dragons, life-size Buddy the Elf blow-ups and towering 12-foot snowmen from “Frozen.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--‘Another young life cut short by senseless violence.’ Chicago’s cardinal mourns slaying of 15-year-o

‘Another young life cut short by senseless violence.’ Chicago’s cardinal mourns slaying of 15-year-old sophomore on Far South Side.

The school released a statement saying “ may the Saints of Carmel welcome Isaiah into eternal life and may Our @ @ @ @ @ over Isaiah ’ s family and friends during this most difficult time .
Isaiah will @ @ @ @ @

A sophomore at Mount Carmel High School was shot to death outside his Far South Side home, prompting Chicago’s cardinal to release a statement mourning “another young life cut short by senseless violence.”
Isaiah Wade, 15, was shot in the head just before 2:30 p.m. Monday in the 10000 block of South Perry Avenue where he lived in the Fernwood neighborhood, police said.
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Isaiah Wade (Mount Carmel High School handout/Mount Carmel High School handout)
Responding officers found him lying in an alley near his home. Five shell casings were found in a backyard nearby and there were bullet holes in several garages, police said.
The boy’s mother told police she believed her son was chatting with someone on social media and might have been lured outside. Police said they recovered the boy’s cellphone.
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“Another family left to mourn, forever altered,” Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a statement. “Mt. Carmel High School is a close community and we keep Isaiah, his family, friends and school staff in our prayers during this unimaginably heartbreaking time.”
The school released a statement saying “may the Saints of Carmel welcome Isaiah into eternal life and may Our Lady of Mount Carmel watch over Isaiah’s family and friends during this most difficult time. Isaiah will be greatly missed.”
No suspects were in custody. Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Column: Oh the virus outside is frightful, but the Wi-Fi’s so delightful. Holiday lyrics with a COVI

Column: Oh the virus outside is frightful, but the Wi-Fi’s so delightful. Holiday lyrics with a COVID spin.

Speaking of songs .
Songs of Good Cheer , the holiday singalong my colleague Eric Zorn and I have hosted @ @ @ @ @ of Folk Music since 1999 with a band of great musicians , is going online @ @ @ @ @ — $ 25 per household — buys some safe holiday fun and contributes to local @ @ @ @ @ more than ever in this hard year .
Tickets are available at the Old Town @ @ @

Homeowners Myron Graham and Chris Cogswell decorated their houses for the neighborhood drive-thru light display along Bruce Avenue in Flossmoor on Dec. 4, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Humor is a time-honored antidote to fear and sadness, so many people are finding comfort in this COVID-shadowed season by singing and writing parody holiday songs. Here are my entries to the genre. I hope you’ll sing them out loud.
Lori Lightfoot’s Running This Town
You better watch out
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You better not lie
You better not pout
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I’m telling you why
Lori Lightfoot’s running this town
She’s making a list
She’s checking it now
When you don’t mask she’s having a cow
Lori Lightfoot’s running this town
She sees you when you’re shopping
Or drinking at the bar
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She knows when you don’t wash your hands
Or you’re speeding in your car
So! You better stay home
Better be good
Better mask up
You know that you should
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Lori Lightfoot’s running this town.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
I’ll be home for Christmas
Where else would I be?
Trav’ling? No. They say: Don’t go!
Just sit at home with your tree
Christmas Eve will find me
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Staring at my screen
I’ll be home for Christmas
Obeying quarantine.
The First Noel
It’s the first Noel
That the experts did say
You can’t gather for Christmas
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Stay home on this day
Stay home on this day
So the virus won’t spread
Don’t go carol or revel
Go early to bed
Noel, Noel
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Noel, this is hell
But we’ll stay home for Christmas
So folks can stay well.
Frosty
Frosty the snowman wasn’t happy: Why, you ask?
Cause his corncob pipe and his button nose
Wouldn’t fit beneath his mask.
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Oh! Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say
He was made of snow but the children know
How he came to life one day
There must have been some magic
In that cute silk mask they found
Cause when they placed it on his face
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He began to dance around
But! Frosty the snowman, cried, “This mask is way too tight!”
So he tore it off and he gave a cough
And it gave those kids a fright
Trumpety trump trump, trumpety trump trump, etc.
But! Frosty the snowman knew that safety mattered most
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So he stretched the strings and put on that thing
Then he said, “Hey, kids, let’s coast!”
Down to the village — yes, they stayed six feet apart —
Running here and there, all around the square
Wearing masks — those kids were smart!
He led them down the streets of town
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Straight to that virus cop
And Lightfoot gave a scolding look
So poor Frosty hollered, “Stop!”
Then Frosty the snowman told the kids “Go home and play!”
And he waved goodbye, saying
“Don’t you cry, we’ll be virus-free someday.”
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Vaccines we have heard are nigh
Vaccines we have heard are nigh
Vaccines that will stop the plague
Hope is here, it makes us cry
From the U.S. to The Hague
Glo-o-o-or-ia, in excelsis deo, etc.
People why this jubilee?
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Why your joyous strains prolong?
From this plague we’ll soon be free
That is why we sing this song
Glo-o-o-or-ia, in excelsis deo, etc.
Let Us Zoom!
Oh the virus outside is frightful
But the Wi-Fi’s so delightful
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And since we’re stuck in some room
Let us zoom, let us zoom, let us zoom!
Oh, it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And we’re home for school and shopping
We’re fighting off thoughts of doom
So we zoom and we zoom and we zoom
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When the virus is fin’lly gone
We’ll be glad to go out in a storm
But ’til the new vaccine’s dawn
Let’s stay safe inside where it’s warm
Oh, the vaccine will soon be coming
We can hear that hope a’humming
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But now we fight off the gloom
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Singing, “Zoom! let us zoom! let us zoom!”
Speaking of songs. Songs of Good Cheer, the holiday singalong my colleague Eric Zorn and I have hosted at the Old Town School of Folk Music since 1999 with a band of great musicians, is going online this year. A ticket — $25 per household — buys some safe holiday fun and contributes to local charities, which need help more than ever in this hard year. Tickets are available at the Old Town School: oldtownschool.org/concerts
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mschmich@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MarySchmich


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Column: The Kyle Rittenhouse case is about vigilante justice. Let’s hope it doesn’t prevail.

There is nothing unusual about a mother defending her son .
If that ’ s how she chooses to look @ @ @ @ @ has every right to insist that if her son had not fired his weapon , @ @ @ @ @ one planning a funeral .

Kyle Rittenhouse, center, walks into the courtroom with attorney Corey Chirafisi for a motion hearing in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sept. 17, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News )
No one in Kyle Rittenhouse’s family seems to understand the gravity of what he did. At least, they won’t admit it.
The 17-year-old killed two people and wounded another. Someone in the Rittenhouse family should be remorseful for that. But so far, all his mother has done is blame the victims.
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Though it may or may not be true, it is a smart defense to claim that Rittenhouse shot the men in self-defense during a protest over a police shooting in Kenosha.
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Wendy Rittenhouse has every right to defend her son with every bit of diligence she can muster. But it is selfish to refuse to at least express sorrow that two people are dead.
Beginning with her interview with the Chicago Tribune last month, Rittenhouse has tried to rewrite the narrative of her son’s ruthless vigilantism during an anti-police brutality rally in August.
She wants us to see her son as an American hero. But most of us see him for what he really is — a coward and a bully who tried to hide his weakness behind an AR-15 assault-style rifle.
Rittenhouse told WISN 12 News in Milwaukee over the weekend that her son went to Kenosha because protesters were rioting and looting. He was among several armed civilians who patrolled the streets and positioned themselves on rooftops overlooking the protesters as if they had dominion over them.
“He was there to help people,” she said. “He went there, spent the night at a friend’s house the night before. They went and cleaned graffiti up. He was always about helping people.”
She insists that the video of her son shooting the three protesters proves it was self-defense.
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A court will eventually decide whether the shooting was justified. But there are some things we know already. Kyle Rittenhouse is young and irresponsible, but he is no hero.
His mother conceded to the Tribune in November that her son should have been home in Illinois that night. She has repeatedly suggested that the protesters should have been home as well.
“No one should have been there,” she said. “The protesters should not have been there, also. My son shouldn’t have been there either.”
She is wrong about the protesters. Protests and counterprotests are integral parts of our democracy. Our nation thrives when people are allowed to peacefully take to the streets and stand up for what they believe in.
When demonstrations get out of hand, it’s the job of the police to bring them under control — not self-appointed civilian overseers who are convinced of their superiority.
She is correct that her son should have been at home that night. He was patrolling the area as though he had been granted authority to bring into line people who were angry that Kenosha police had shot and injured another African American man, Jacob Blake.
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That’s vigilantism. It’s designed to stifle democracy and intimidate people to the point that they are afraid to speak out.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s voice was not strong enough to silence the protesters. But an assault-style rifle swung over his shoulder could.
Rittenhouse didn’t have the courage to stand up for his beliefs in a counter-demonstration. So he cowered behind a gun and sought to force those with whom he disagreed into submission.
That’s not what heroes do. Heroes bravely stand up for what they believe in.
There is nothing unusual about a mother defending her son. If that’s how she chooses to look at it, Wendy Rittenhouse has every right to insist that if her son had not fired his weapon, she would have been the one planning a funeral.
It is understandable that the 45-year-old single mother of three would hug her son and tell him she loved him. Parents don’t stop loving their children because they mess up. Instinctively, she wants to keep him out of jail and close to her.
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She is wrong, however, to brush over the role her son played in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. Her anger at authorities and prosecutors pursuing homicide and attempted homicide charges against her son as well as those who have painted him as a ruthless vigilante is misplaced.
Her lack of empathy for the families of the victims is disheartening. And it is shameful for her to suggest that the victims were responsible for getting killed because they were in the midst of a protest against criminal injustice.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Blaming the victims is designed to divert attention away from the men who were killed or injured and lift the killer to celebrity status. In some circles, it has worked.
Kyle Rittenhouse has been wrapped in a protective cloak of Trumpian conservatism. They have surrounded him like a shield, protecting him from opposing forces that insist that justice be served.
His trial will be as much about the right to free speech in America as it is about the killing of two men and the injuring of a third.
The verdict will send a clear message. Either Americans have the right to protest for what they believe in or they don’t. It will either give license to vigilante justice or cut it down at the knees.
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If Rittenhouse ends up walking free, it will signal to those of us who believe in free speech that America is not as free as we thought it to be.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Chief Illiniwek was officially retired 13 years ago. University of Illinois is still trying to remed

Chief Illiniwek was officially retired 13 years ago. University of Illinois is still trying to remedy his ‘painful impact’ on Indigenous people.

The so-called “ Implementation Plan on Native Imagery , ” however , does not address a key question at the @ @ @ @ @ When will U. of I. adopt a new mascot ?
It also doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ who consider it inappropriate to call athletic teams the Fighting Illini , a reference to @ @ @ @ @ who once lived in the state .

In its latest step to confront the controversial legacy of Chief Illiniwek, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s long-retired mascot, the school has announced new efforts to make amends, saying it will grow its American Indian Studies program and repatriate sacred artifacts to Indigenous people, among other reforms.
The wide-ranging initiative, shared Friday by Chancellor Robert Jones, follows years of intense dialogue about the use of Chief Illiniwek, whom opponents consider a racist mascot and supporters call a revered symbol.
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Though U. of I. officially banned the chief in 2007, his image is often spotted on apparel and a network of unsanctioned supporters has continued to don the costume of feathers, face paint and buckskin clothes at sporting events.
The University of Illinois is taking new measures to try to reconcile with Native American communities, saying it will grow its American Indian Studies program and repatriate sacred artifacts to Indigenous people, among other reforms. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
“It is time to implement a plan to create new traditions that reflect and include all members of our 21st century university community,” Jones said in a campus-wide email. “The implementation plan provides a bridge from the past to the present — to fully remember the complex intent of the tradition while also accepting responsibility for its painful impact — and a vision for the future.”
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In the message, Jones outlined a number of reforms that will be implemented over the next three years.
They include offering in-state tuition to students from federally recognized tribal nations, returning cultural items, artwork, human remains and funerary objects in university collections to Native people, hiring additional faculty members for the American Indian Studies program, tapping a campus historian to develop an accurate history of the school’s use of Native American symbols and creating a council to develop new traditions for the student body.
The so-called “Implementation Plan on Native Imagery,” however, does not address a key question at the heart of the issue: When will U. of I. adopt a new mascot?
It also doesn’t respond to complaints about calling athletic teams the Fighting Illini, which some see as a reference to a confederation of American Indians who once lived in the state. Others contend the name stems from Illinois residents who died serving during World War I, whom the school’s football stadium commemorates. But the university’s library says the origins of the term, and whether it is linked to American Indians, is “open to interpretation.”
Attempts to reach the school’s American Indian Studies program for comment were not successful, though several faculty members participated in committees that devised the plan.
Several U. of I. instructors who are members of tribal nations also did not respond to inquiries. In the past, American Indians who spoke out against Chief Illiniwek received violent threats, a former professor said.
Fawn Pochel, education coordinator at the American Indian Center in Chicago, said the university’s plan “does the bare minimum” and fails to denounce historical and modern-day use of Native imagery.
“It doesn’t provide any firm statement from the university itself that they want to depart from folks identifying them with that imagery, which is disheartening to say the least,” she said.
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Pochel, who is of Saulteaux-Cree descent, said the new scholarships fall short because they don’t benefit in-state students who are members of federally recognized tribes or descendants who aren’t enrolled in tribal nations.
She said she was not contacted by the university for input despite sitting on an education committee for the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative, a consortium of organizations that includes the Native American House at U. of I.
Cheryl Crazy Bull of the American Indian College Fund, a Denver-based organization that supports Native students in higher education, applauded the university’s plan and said she was impressed by the breadth of its approach.
Other schools have recruited Native American students or acknowledged that their buildings were built on Native lands, but few have gone so far as to appoint a campus historian or hire someone to streamline repatriation efforts, she said.
“It’s really good when these things happen,” she said. “I think they make Indian people feel like the fight can have good consequences, and you’ve just got to hang in there.”
But Crazy Bull said the school could go further still by putting Indigenous scholars in leadership positions and, as public universities in Maine, Michigan and Massachusetts have already done, waiving tuition altogether for Native students.
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Starting this fall, U. of I. began offering scholarships to members of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, who were displaced by the university, to cover all costs of attendance. Any student who is a member of a tribal nation recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs is also now eligible for in-state tuition, a move the university’s Chicago campus enacted last year.
The chief of the Peoria Tribe did not respond to requests for comment, and his community was busy setting up for a children’s Christmas party, his office said on Tuesday. The U. of I. plan says the school should develop a deeper relationship with the Peoria Tribe, strengthen ties to other federally recognized tribal nations and explore ways to honor their history on campus.
As recently as 2018, the Peoria Tribe issued a statement calling Chief Illiniwek a ”degrading racial stereotype” after two U. of I. trustees met with the tribe’s chief. The NCAA pressured the school to abandon the image, which it concluded was “hostile and abusive,” but supporters of Chief Illiniwek have sought to preserve his use as a school symbol.
The Honor the Chief Society, an organization “dedicated to the preservation of positive Native American symbolism” that has supported the continued use of Chief Illiniwek, declined to comment.
Despite dragging on for 13 years, the school hasn’t chosen a new mascot, and this new initiative won’t change that.
The Native imagery plan calls for a council of students to develop new traditions, but the group “does not intend to take on the selection of a new university image or mascot, unless delegated by the chancellor.”
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Students voting in campus elections in March narrowly approved the adoption of the belted kingfisher, a blue and orange bird, as the school’s new mascot, and the faculty senate approved in an advisory vote too. Previously, students considered Alma Otter as a new mascot but the measure failed to garner enough support.
The imagery plan recommends that an outside party help stakeholders identify new traditions such as music, symbols and possibly a mascot that “do not rely upon Native American images or traditions,” but said it cannot make any hires because of budget concerns from the coronavirus pandemic.
Stephen Kaufman, an outspoken critic of Chief Illiniwek and a professor emeritus in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, said the new plan fails to acknowledge the chief’s racist roots and instead seeks to justify its use in the past.
“The Illiniwek tradition was racist from the start, just as slavery, blackface, the KKK, and anti-Semitism always have been,” Kaufman said in an email. “Since when is intent an excuse for racism? … Jones again appears to be placating supporters of Chief Illiniwek.”
This story has been updated to provide more context about the possible origins of the term “Fighting Illini” to refer to university sports teams.
echerney@chicagotribune.com
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jkeilman@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--Chicago rapper G Herbo due in court Wednesday to face federal fraud charges

The defendants then texted or used social media to share the stolen information on the fly , at times even @ @ @ @ @ process of charging the goods or services .
They referred to the stolen information in @ @ @ @ @ , ” “ moves ” or “ joints , ” according to the charges .

G Herbo performs to a large crowd on the first day of Lollapalooza at Grant Park on Aug. 2, 2018. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago rapper G Herbo is set to appear Wednesday in federal court in Massachusetts on charges alleging he and five members of his crew used stolen identities to make fraudulent charges for extravagant services ranging from private jet trips to “designer puppies.”
Herbert Wright III, 25, whose blunt lyrics of life on the South Side skyrocketed him to a recent appearance on the “Tonight Show,” was charged in an indictment unsealed last week with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, the Tribune first reported.
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Wright, who grew up in the South Side neighborhood known as “Terror Town,” turned himself in to federal authorities in California last week. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson in Springfield, Massachusetts, court records show.
The indictment alleged Wright, his music promoter and other members of his crew used stolen identifications to charge more than a million dollars’ worth of exotic services over a four-year period.
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Trips on private jets, limousine rides, luxury car rentals and a vacation at a villa in Jamaica were fraudulently purchased, federal authorities alleged, as were two designer puppies bought for Wright from a dealer in Michigan in 2017, according to the indictment.
Also charged in the alleged scheme were Antonio “T-Glo” Strong, Wright’s promoter and manager; South Side rapper Joseph “Jo Rodeo” Williams; and alleged co-conspirators Steven Hayes Jr., Demario Sorrells and Terrence Bender, all of Chicago.
Hayes, Bender, Sorrells, and Williams all pleaded not guilty in a video arraignment before Robertson on Monday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Breslow told the judge that so far, prosecutors have uncovered as much as $1.5 million in stolen goods and services, though that figure could go higher. He said preliminary guidelines call for up to 12 years in prison.
Breslow said the evidence in the case is “massive,” including hundreds of alleged victims, both individual account holders and businesses that allegedly lost money because of the fraudulent charges.
A hearing for Strong had not been set as of Tuesday.
Reached by telephone last week, Wright’s attorney, James Lawson, had no comment on the case. G Herbo’s management company, Machine Entertainment Group, issued a statement after the charges were made public saying he “maintains his innocence and looks forward to establishing his innocence in court.”
The indictment comes as Wright’s fame continues to skyrocket. Last week, G Herbo was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 musicians list. He posted the news to his 6 million Instagram followers on Nov. 30 with the caption, “NEVER PAID ATTENTION 2 ACCOLADES...CAN”T START NOW ... & I CAN’T STOP NOW!!”
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Wright also recently performed his hit “PTSD” with Chance the Rapper on the “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon.
According to the indictment, the scheme centered on the defendants’ use of stolen credit card information and personal identities obtained either from the “dark web” or other sources.
The defendants then texted or used social media to share the stolen information on the fly, at times even as merchants were in the process of charging the goods or services. They referred to the stolen information in coded messages as “cards,” “moves” or “joints,” according to the charges.
In November 2017, Strong, using the name “Darren Geiger” and identifying himself as Wright’s manager, called an unidentified pet company in Michigan to order “two designer puppies” for Wright using a stolen credit card, according to the charges.
The pet company appeared to be suspicious and asked for Wright to confirm the order by messaging it directly from his Instagram account, the indictment alleged. Strong allegedly sent a text to Wright saying, “Hurry just message that b---- hello.”
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The indictment alleged Wright did what he was told. The company representative messaged Wright back on Instagram, asking, “You are getting 2 puppies correct?” Wright then confirmed the order, according to the charges.
Bender later used the same stolen credit information to arrange for a car service to pick up the puppies in Michigan and bring them to Chicago, the indictment alleged.
The crew also used stolen credit cards to charge a week’s stay at a villa in Jamaica in July 2017 — at Wright’s request, according to the indictment. Another trip to Sunny Isles, Florida, a year before was also charged illegally, along with a personal chef and private security team.
In March 2017, Strong used the alias “Richard O’Malley” to book a private jet for Wright and an entourage of eight others from Chicago to Miami, where Sorrells and an unnamed co-conspirator had used a different stolen identity to rent luxury cars for the crew, including a Bentley CGTC and Maybach S600, according to the indictment.
The charges alleged Wright and his crew also illegally charged trips to Miami, Texas, New York, New Jersey and California, where they booked hotel rooms and paid for meals and other services using stolen identities.
The most recent allegation of fraud occurred on Sept. 4, when a co-conspirator used fake information to pay for a set of rooms at a downtown Chicago hotel, where Strong and others stayed, according to the charges.
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-09--After prosecutors drop charges and CPD clears him of wrongdoing, Chicago sergeant sues Wisconsin cop

After prosecutors drop charges and CPD clears him of wrongdoing, Chicago sergeant sues Wisconsin cops for wrongful arrest

Over the next two years , he said , he resisted the urge to investigate his own case and let @ @ @ @ @ Wisconsin ’ s legal system .
According to the lawsuit , the girl ’ s @ @ @ @ @ four days after returning to Illinois from a vacation with the Garcia family and told @ @ @ @ @ Garcia had touched her inappropriately over her swimsuit once while Garcia was taking turns tossing @ @ @ @ @ water .

A veteran Chicago police sergeant is suing two Wisconsin officers and several prosecutors for false arrest and malicious prosecution after the district attorney’s office dropped sexual assault charges against him, according to a federal lawsuit aimed at restoring the officer’s reputation and recouping the savings he exhausted fighting the case.
In an arrest that made headlines in two states, Chicago police Sgt. Jose Garcia, now 49, was accused of inappropriately touching a 15-year-old girl during a Wisconsin Dells vacation in 2016. The girl, a longtime family friend, accused Garcia of assaulting her while he was horsing around with the teen and five other children, including four of his own kids, in a water park pool.
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The Sauk County district attorney’s office dropped its prosecution two years after the sergeant’s arrest, saying it would “not be able to present sufficient credible evidence at trial to prove the charged offenses,” according to the lawsuit. The Tribune could not independently verify aspects of the criminal case because it has been expunged and the records shielded from public inspection.
Neither the Sauk County district attorney’s office nor the Lake Delton police, who led the investigation, returned calls seeking comment.
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Garcia believes the investigation into the allegations was so flawed, he filed a civil rights lawsuit in the Western District of Wisconsin seeking reimbursement for lost wages and the cost of his defense. He acknowledges the unusual nature of a police officer — particularly one who works for a department with a well-documented history of roles in wrongful convictions — suing other cops but says there needs to be accountability for the harm done to him and his family.
“I’ve read the stories about those (overturned Chicago) cases and I’ve seen some guys go to jail for things they’ve done,” he said. “But I’ve been fortunate to work with people who have done the right thing and always did the best they could. I expected to be treated the same way, but that’s not what happened.”
Jose Garcia, Chicago police sergeant of detectives, sued authorities in Wisconsin in October 2020. (Provided by Jose Garcia)
The Chicago Police Department kept Garcia on administrative duty for four years while it conducted an internal review of the allegations. CPD’s internal affairs division only recently received key records from Sauk County prosecutors and after reviewing them determined the accusation to be unfounded, a police spokesman said.
CPD investigators attempted to speak with the girl and her family, but they would not participate in the inquiry, spokesman Luis Agostini said. The Tribune could not reach the family for comment.
Garcia was stripped of his police powers and assigned to administrative desk duty after his arrest in October 2016. Following the conclusion of CPD’s internal investigation last month, the department returned his badge and assigned him to a shooting investigations team on the South Side.
The sergeant, who emigrated from Mexico as a small child and grew up in Little Village, told the Tribune that walking into work with his police powers restored was one of the happiest moments in his 25-year career.
“I couldn’t stop smiling all day,” he said. “Even though I was wearing a mask, everyone kept telling me that they could tell I was smiling.”
His happiness stood in stark contrast to the confusion and fear he said he felt four years earlier, when his supervisors called him off the street and demanded he return to headquarters immediately. As a sergeant of detectives who had never faced serious discipline, Garcia said he initially assumed one of his subordinates had done something that needed his attention.
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When he arrived at the station, supervisors told Garcia that Lake Delton police were there with a warrant for his arrest. Garcia initially thought it was a sick joke, until they took his gun, tactical gear and badge away.
Garcia spent a sleepless night in CPD lockup, wondering what the charges would mean for his family, his career and his reputation in the community.
The next morning, he posted bond and immediately drove to Wisconsin to turn himself in. Facing two counts of second-degree assault of a child, he could have been sentenced to up to 80 years in prison if convicted. It was another sleepless night in jail.
“I was shaking, I was nervous and my mouth was dry,” he said. “There are so many things going through my mind: What am I going to do? Am I going to lose my job? How am I going to pay my bills if I lose my job? Do I really need an attorney?”
His life, he said, changed dramatically after posting bond, which came with standard conditions that prohibited him from being around minors other than his son and three daughters. He quit teaching religious education classes, coaching his daughter’s volleyball team and attending his son’s Boy Scout activities.
He also stopped going to family events because other children would be there, meaning he missed dozens of holidays, graduation parties and birthday celebrations. Acquaintances kept their distance, friends checked in less. His youngest daughter’s elementary school took down a picture of him that was hanging as part of a tribute to parents who were first responders.
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Garcia was assigned to work as a supervisor in the 311 callback center after his arrest and continued to receive his $118,000-a-year salary, but it wasn’t the job he loved. Instead of helping to get justice for people in the community, he was reading and signing off on reports written by other officers stripped of their police powers.
Over the next two years, he said, he resisted the urge to investigate his own case and let an attorney guide it through Wisconsin’s legal system. According to the lawsuit, the girl’s mother contacted Lake Delton police four days after returning to Illinois from a vacation with the Garcia family and told officers that her daughter said Garcia had touched her inappropriately over her swimsuit once while Garcia was taking turns tossing six different children into the water.
According to the lawsuit, filed in October, the girl told a slightly different story when interviewed by police with her mother a few days later. The girl told investigators that the sergeant touched her twice and that the first incident, which took place in front of a lifeguard, lasted two minutes. When an investigator suggested she meant two seconds, the teen insisted it was two minutes, the suit states.
The park’s surveillance video does not show physical interaction between anyone in Garcia’s group for that long, according to the lawsuit. The Police Department also waited nearly 18 months to speak with water park lifeguards positioned near the pool that day. By that time, resort management said it would be impossible to figure out who was on duty during the alleged incident, the suit states.
A Lake Delton detective testified in 2018 that he did not try to interview any lifeguards initially “because in his experience conducting sexual assault investigations, lifeguards ‘generally don’t see anything on the day even that we’re called,’” according to the lawsuit.
Police did not interview the girl’s father or brother until after Garcia’s arrest, though the latter was in the pool with Garcia and the other kids when the alleged incident occurred, the lawsuit states. They also did not speak with any members of Garcia’s family or other pool patrons that day, according to the suit.
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The case went to trial in April 2018, but a judge immediately declared a mistrial after a prosecutor told the jury in her opening statement that the teen had a learning disability. That information, meant to explain the discrepancies and problems with her account, had never been shared with Garcia or his attorney, according to the lawsuit.
Six months later, the district attorney dropped the charges against Garcia. Linda Hoffman, the prosecutor whom the lawsuit says gave the opening statement and approved his arrest, no longer has an active law license in Wisconsin.
“A life spent doing nothing but good was not enough to protect him from overzealous and undisciplined police officers and prosecutors putting Jose and his family through an unimaginable ordeal, only to dismiss the charges after two years with an acknowledgment that they lacked the evidence to convict him after all,” his attorney Jordan Marsh wrote in the lawsuit.
To fund his defense, Garcia dipped into his savings and sold property that he intended to use pay his children’s college tuition bills. His income also decreased significantly during his four years on administrative duty, because even though he continued to receive his base salary, he did not work any overtime, which had earned him an additional $50,000 each year, he said.
Records show Garcia has never faced serious trouble in 25-year career. He has had 22 citizen complaints against him since 1995, though none of the allegations has ever been sustained, according to records maintained by the Invisible Institute. He also has six civilian compliments.
The Tribune could identify only one police misconduct lawsuit filed against him in federal court, a 2015 case in which a Chicago man said he was wrongly charged with arson. The man, who was initially convicted in a bench trial only to have the judge later overturn her own decision, eventually agreed to settle the case for $100,000 on the eve of trial.
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Garcia’s own arrest gave him time to reflect on his approach to police work and the way he has handled cases. Though he says he stands by everything he’s done during his career, he returns to the job with a determination to make sure all suspects are treated the way he wishes Wisconsin authorities had treated him. He has come to the realization that if the life of a police sergeant could be damaged by a case that ultimately fell apart, that could happen to anyone.
“I know people may not be happy with me nitpicking stuff, but I think it’s necessary,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go a little over the top because of my experience, but I want to be sure no one goes through what I went through.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-08--Illinois Appellate Court upholds Deerfield’s ban on assault weapons, partially overturning a lower c

Illinois Appellate Court upholds Deerfield’s ban on assault weapons, partially overturning a lower court ruling

In the months that followed , gun advocacy groups , including Guns Save Life , the Illinois State Rifle Association @ @ @ @ @ , battled the village in court , filing two lawsuits and claiming the ban was @ @ @ @ @ s home rule abilities since the Illinois legislature had since made the ability of regulating @ @ @ @ @ power .
Since the original filings , those cases have been consolidated .

A state appellate court has upheld the village of Deerfield’s power to ban assault weapons, reversing part of a lower court ruling that had thrown out an amended village ordinance.
With the reversal, which was rendered Friday, the order goes into effect in the village immediately, as the permanent injunction meant to prevent the village from enforcing the ordinance has been removed, officials said.
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Now the case will go back to the lower Lake County court for “further proceedings,” the appellate court’s opinion states.
Deerfield passed an ordinance in 2013 after Illinois lawmakers gave home rule municipalities a 10-day window to regulate assault weapons before the Illinois Concealed Carry Act overrode their ability to do so.
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The Deerfield Village Board took action within that window to regulate such weapons, but only created requirements for storage and transportation of them within the village. They did not, however, ban the weapons at the time.
That 2013 ordinance, though, included a provision that preserved Deerfield’s right to amend the ordinance at a later time, which Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said was within the right of the village.
“If within that 10-day window, (a municipality) had passed any type of ordinance on assault weapons, it would then have the right to go back and amend that ordinance,” she said.
The village amended the ordinance a few years later, in 2018, banning the possession, sale and manufacturing of certain types of assault weapons within the village. The move to an outright ban was in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed.
Deerfield trustees unanimously approvedthe ban in 2018. The amended ordinance defines models such as AR-15s, AK-47s and Uzis as assault weapons included in its ban.
The village also passed a second amendment to the ordinance that explicitly banned large-capacity magazines, defined as “any ammunition-feeding device” that holds more than 10 rounds, the applellate court opinion document states. This was added after the trial court found the original amendment did not cover them.
The court’s opinion on Friday was split, with Appellate Judge Robert McLaren dissenting. In his dissent, he cited that the original ordinance in 2013 did not regulate ownership of such a weapon, and instead laid out restrictions on how to store, keep and transport assault weapons, according to the court’s opinion from Friday.
John Boch, the executive director of Guns Save Life, an organization involved in one of two original lawsuits, said it was outside of Deerfield’s jurisdiction to amend the ordinance in those ways.
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“They didn’t ban those weapons in that 10-day window,” he told Pioneer Press. “But a few years later, they came back and completely rewrote a local ordinance ... to turn it into a gun ban.”
In the months that followed, gun advocacy groups, including Guns Save Life, the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation, battled the village in court, filing two lawsuits and claiming the ban was an overstep of Deerfield’s home rule abilities since the Illinois legislature had since made the ability of regulating assault weapons an exclusive state power. Since the original filings, those cases have been consolidated.
Last year, a Lake County Circuit judge ruled the village had overstepped its home rule authority, and placed a permanent injunction that blocked the village from enforcing the order. Rosenthal said it was a surprise when the circuit court blocked the ban.
“We acted in a way that we were told was the correct way to act,” Rosenthal told Pioneer Press. “The fact that we put a placeholder basically … and came back to amend it was something we were told we could do.”
In a village news release announcing the appellate court decision, officials said Deerfield will enforce the ordinance in a similar way to other local ordinances, saying police will not go “door-to-door” to ensure compliance. Initially, it will be enforced through education and voluntary compliance, the release states.
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“We were troubled with the legal interpretations and legal reasoning set forth in the trial court’s opinion, and we are please that the Appellate Court corrected the analysis, as a matter of law,” village attorney Steve Elrod said in the release.
Boch said he sees a lane for an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, and said he is cautiously optimistic it will be appealed.
“Of course we are unhappy with this,” Boch said. “And I think everybody is unhappy one way or another with this decision, so I think it’s highly likely this will be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. And whether or not they accept it is anybody’s guess at this point.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-10--Scuffle between man drinking and cop in Loop subway sends both to hospital, police say

A 55-year-old man allegedly slugged a Chicago police officer in the face Wednesday during a fight in a Loop subway @ @ @ @ @ led off a CTA train because he was drinking , police said .

A man slugged a Chicago police officer in the face while being led off a CTA train in the Loop Wednesday evening because he was drinking, authorities said.
The man, 55, and the officer were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in good condition, according to Chicago Fire Chief Frank Velez.
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Officers spotted the man drinking on a Red Line train at the Jackson Park station around 5:45 p.m., police said.
As the officers began leading him off the train and writing him up for a city violation, the man became angry and punched one of the officers, said Anthony Spicuzza, a police spokesman.
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Charges were pending against the man.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com