chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Ashod ‘Mr. Ash’ Baboorian, ‘Chicago’s Greatest Magician,’ dies at 80: ‘It’s rare to meet someone lik

Ashod ‘Mr. Ash’ Baboorian, ‘Chicago’s Greatest Magician,’ dies at 80: ‘It’s rare to meet someone like that in life.’

“ I vividly remember driving down Western Avenue on countless occasions and seeing this big red facade in an otherwise @ @ @ @ @ Entering that store , you ’ re just like , ‘ Oh my God , @ @ @ @ @ a whole other world , ’ ” Gersten said .
“ And it was very @ @ @ @ @ had never met anyone like Ash .
His mission in life was to spark joy @ @ @ @ @ and customers to the best of his ability .
It ’ s rare to meet @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Ashod Baboorian, aka Mr. Ash, at his magic shop on Western Avenue in 2008, where you could find everything from a levitating bottle to a rubber chicken to a "Lithuanians for Nixon" button. Baboorian died July 3 at age 80. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
In his lifetime, Ashod Baboorian was an engineer, musician and philanthropist. But most knew him as Mr. Ash, the comic magician of Chicago.
Along with running his Lincoln Square magic shop, Baboorian brought his “unique blend of magic and comedy” everywhere from local street fairs to WGN-TV’s “Bozo’s Circus,” according to friend Mike Adajian.
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He performed for countless Illinois politicians, including former Gov. Jim Thompson and former Ald. Patrick O’Connor, and was proclaimed “Chicago’s Greatest Magician” by the Chicago City Council in 2015 — the only individual to have received such a recognition.
Baboorian was 80 when he died from heart failure July 3 at Swedish Hospital on the Northwest Side, according to his son David Baboorian.
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Ashod Baboorian was born July 26, 1939, in the Armenian diaspora community of Kirkuk, Iraq, to Zaroohi Hamparsomian and Armenian Orthodox priest Nerses Baboorian.
Ashod “Mr. Ash” Baboorian performs a trick at his magic shop on Western Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood in 2008. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
He trained as a boxer, wrestler and weightlifter in Iraq before immigrating to the U.S. in 1960, where he served in the Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for three years, according to his son and Adajian. He attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and received his civil engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, eventually landing in Chicago where he worked for the state as a bridge inspector, according to his son.
Throughout this time, Baboorian was falling in love with country music.
“The magic came later, because first he wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll singer,” said longtime friend Jon Langford, founder of British punk band the Mekons. “And he went to these honky-tonk bars in the 1960s and they told him he had to learn country music ‘cause that was the big music in Chicago at the time … so he changed his name to Country Ash Ryan and learned hundreds of honky-tonk songs overnight.”
Baboorian pursued country music as a lifelong hobby. It was also an early touchpoint to friendship with Langford, who came to Chicago in the 1980s. Langford said Baboorian used to visit his studio to play old country records, always singing Merle Haggard as he walked up the stairwell and cracking a “ludicrous” joke upon reaching the top. The two eventually collaborated on a single, “Give Me Back My Taxes,” recorded in Langford’s basement in the early 2000s.
“My experience of America was someone like him,” Langford said. “A charmer with all these weird influences, so amusing and so joyful.”
Baboorian pivoted to magic in the early 1970s, when a friend happened to rent an apartment strewn with the secondhand tricks of a late magician who went by Indian John, according to a 2008 Tribune article. Baboorian began practicing and, a natural entertainer, quickly turned pro. He performed as “Mr. Ash” at venues across Chicago, including the New York Lounge, Mr. C’s and Dennis Rodman’s Illusions nightclub, along with regular appearances at local community events and children’s birthday parties.
“He was like an old-school Vegas entertainer, he had all those jokes and all that patter that magicians don’t do anymore,” Langford said.
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Baboorian was also committed to sharing magic with others. He established his first magic shop in 1977 before opening Ash’s Magic Shop on North Western Avenue in 1985.
A customer buys some trickery from Ashod Baboorian at Ash's Magic Shop on Sept. 5, 2008. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
Packed floor to ceiling with exploding pens, whoopee cushions and vomit-flavored candy, Ash’s Magic Shop became a community center for local children, amateur magicians and intrigued passersby. One day, one of those passersby was Brian Gersten, a filmmaker who spent the next year producing a documentary about the shop and the man behind it.
“I vividly remember driving down Western Avenue on countless occasions and seeing this big red facade in an otherwise very ordinary looking neighborhood. Entering that store, you’re just like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve just entered a whole other world,’” Gersten said. “And it was very obvious to me that I had never met anyone like Ash. His mission in life was to spark joy, to entertain his friends and customers to the best of his ability. It’s rare to meet someone like that in life.”
In a nod to his own magical beginnings, Baboorian made a habit of buying out the inventory of other magic shops about to close their doors, filling his garage with the collected history of Chicago’s magic scene.
“It showed what a last-of-his-kind that he was in the way that he felt obligated to keep that going,” said Gersten. “Not that he knew what the hell was in any of the boxes. But I think he wanted it preserved in some kind of way.”
Baboorian was active in Masonic charities throughout his life. As a past master of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, he used his talents to raise money for their Ronald McDonald House. He also served as commander for the Knights of Vartan, an Armenian expat community, and periodically traveled to Armenia to deliver school supplies and perform shows from village to village.
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Baboorian also is survived by his wife, Bonnie; another son, Edward; and one grandson.
There will be a visitation service on Saturday, July 11, between noon and 2 p.m. at Drake & Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave.
vsturm@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Man accused of killing grandmother, 96, and severely injuring mother, 73, in pitchfork attack

Randle followed them to the front of the house and knocked his grandmother to the ground before stomping her , @ @ @ @ @ pitchfork , DeBoni said .
He then attacked his mother in a similar fashion after @ @ @ @ @ stop , authorities said .

A man is comforted in the 7700 block of South Laflin Street in Chicago on July 7, 2020, near the scene of a fatal stabbing incident. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
A South Side man violently beat and stomped his 96-year-old grandmother before attacking her Tuesday with a pitchfork outside the family’s Gresham neighborhood home and then turned his assault on his 73-year-old mother, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Authorities received multiple 911 calls regarding the 11 a.m. Tuesday attack as horrified neighbors watched Dujuan Randle punch and stomp both women outside a family-owned building in the 7700 block of South Laflin Street. One caller said the assailant chased her back into her home after his mother cried out for help.
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Randle, 41, who lived in a basement apartment below the women, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his grandmother, Myrtis Jackson, and attempted murder in the attack on his mother.
Dujuan Randle, 41, is charged with stabbing to death a 96-year-old woman on July 7, 2020. (Chicago Police Department)
During a bail hearing broadcast live on YouTube, Randle kept his head lowered for most of the proceedings as prosecutors gave explicit details on the attack they said began with him kicking in the women’s front door.
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Randle began demanding “his money that the family was holding for him,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni told the court. Authorities didn’t elaborate on this, but public records show that Jackson had bought and sold several properties on the South Side.
Randle followed the women through the home and then punched his grandmother before grabbing a pitchfork from the building’s rear porch, DeBoni said. After seeing this, Randle’s mother called 911 and then both women fled the home.
Randle followed them to the front of the house and knocked his grandmother to the ground before stomping her, then attacking her with the pitchfork, DeBoni said. He then attacked his mother in a similar fashion after she yelled at him to stop, authorities said.
Jackson was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined her primary cause of death was multiple injuries suffered in an assault, with heart disease as a secondary cause. Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide.
Randle’s mother remains hospitalized and continues to suffer from significant pain, due to the puncture wounds to the right hip, as well as abrasions to her head and left arm, bleeding to the left ear and bruising about the body, DeBoni said.
Police arrested Randle at the scene after neighbors pointed him out as the attacker. Following his release from an area hospital, he confessed to punching and stabbing his relatives because they “use his name to deprive him of food and money,” DeBoni said.
Prior to the hearing, police said Randle had a history of mental illness, but the matter wasn’t discussed in court. Judge Mary C. Marubio approved the prosecution’s request for no bail, calling Randle a danger to the community “and to his mom in particular.”
He is barred from contacting his family and is scheduled to return to court July 28.
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wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--House Speaker Michael Madigan calls for replacement of Stephen Douglas portrait in Illinois Capitol

House Speaker Michael Madigan calls for replacement of Stephen Douglas portrait in Illinois Capitol with one of Barack Obama

In addition , Madigan said the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on the Capitol ’ s grounds should be @ @ @ @ @ of more prominence and honor.
” He asked the Office of the Architect of the @ @ @ @ @ “ work with all Illinoisans to conduct a thorough review of all statues , portraits @ @ @ @ @ to ensure any inappropriate fixtures are removed and all feel welcome .
”

Joshua Hahn, 6 of Flossmoor, looks at a statue of the late U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, as he waits to meet then-Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife Diana, at a reception at the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield on Jan. 12, 2015. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Springfield — Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Thursday called for a portrait of the late U.S. Sen. Stephen Douglas that hangs in the Capitol’s House chamber to be removed and replaced with one of former President Barack Obama, whom he called “a more fitting representation of the modern-day Democratic Party.”
Madigan also called for the removal of statues on the Illinois State Capitol grounds in Springfield of both Douglas, a staunch defender of slavery, and Pierre Menard, the state’s first lieutenant governor and a slaveholder.
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“Memorializing people and a time that allowed slavery and fostered bigotry and oppression has no place in the Illinois House, where the work of all Illinoisans is conducted,” Madigan said. “We can only move forward in creating a more just world when these symbols of hate are removed from our everyday lives.”
The speaker’s call to take down the portrait and statues is part of a movement to remove memorials of historical figures with ties to the Confederacy and slavery that has picked up momentum following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
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A portrait of the late U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas hangs in the Illinois House chamber at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on July 1, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Douglas, a notable figure in mid 19th-century Illinois history, is credited with building the state’s Democratic Party and served in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. He famously took part in a series of debates with Abraham Lincoln during a U.S. Senate campaign and lost the 1860 presidential election to Lincoln.
Madigan said in a statement he will introduce a resolution to authorize the removal of the Douglas portrait when lawmakers return to Springfield in the fall, and in the meantime is “looking into ways the portrait can be covered immediately.”
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In addition, Madigan said the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on the Capitol’s grounds should be placed in a location “of more prominence and honor.” He asked the Office of the Architect of the Capitol and its board to “work with all Illinoisans to conduct a thorough review of all statues, portraits and symbols on Capitol grounds to ensure any inappropriate fixtures are removed and all feel welcome.”
State statute gives the Office of the Architect of the Capitol authority over statues on Capitol grounds, subject to some oversight from the Capitol Historic Preservation Board.
It’s unclear what the fate of the portrait and statues would be if they are removed from Capitol grounds.
“I don’t think there’s a firm and hard decision, but I would imagine there would be an effort to place them somewhere, just not in positions of prominence and great honor, which I think is how they’re viewed now in terms of being placed on the Capitol grounds,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
Senate President Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, said in a statement that Douglas’ role in Illinois history “does not warrant commemoration today with a statue on the statehouse grounds.”
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“I believe it’s a good time to review exactly who’s being honored and why in both the Capitol building and on the surrounding grounds, and then make some changes,” Harmon said.
The University of Chicago this week announced it removed two displays honoring Douglas from campus and relocated them to a university collection. The university said, “Douglas profited from his wife’s ownership of a Mississippi plantation where Black people were enslaved. While it is critical to understand and address the ongoing legacy of slavery and oppression in this country, Douglas does not deserve to be honored on our campus.”
Former President Obama, whose portrait Madigan wants as a replacement for Douglas, got his start in elected office as a state senator in Illinois. He and the speaker were not always in sync.
In 2006, as Obama’s star was rising, he frustrated the powerful Democratic speaker by endorsing Alexi Giannoulias for state treasurer over the party’s slated primary candidate. Madigan showed his displeasure by mocking Obama as “the Messiah” in an interview with the Daily Southtown. Obama dismissed it as “a moment of glibness " from the speaker.
Still, just months later and as Obama was weighing a presidential bid, Madigan moved up the Illinois primary date so voters could support the home-state candidate and provide an early campaign boost.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Highwood butcher Dominic Poeta accused of illegal sports gambling, filing false federal tax return

In 2008 , Poeta told Kass he wasn ’ t a bookie , just a go-between .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ him up , ” Poeta said of Resnick .
“ I hooked him up with @ @ @ @ @ When he got too big for them , I hooked him up with guys in @ @ @ @ @ a go-between .
He would take checks to me .
And I would cash them @ @ @ @ @ want checks .
”

The owner of a Highwood meat and Italian food market is facing federal charges of illegal sports bookmaking and filing a false federal income tax return, federal officials announced Thursday.
From 2014 to 2018, 63-year-old Dominic Poeta, “unlawfully operated a business that provided sports betting and wagering services, both domestically and abroad,‘' according to a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
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Poeta, of Highland Park, was additionally charged with reporting his total income as $81,609 in a 2016 federal tax return, “knowing his actual income substantially exceeded that amount,‘' a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Besides seeming disappointed it was going hit the news, Poeta, who was reached at his shop Thursday afternoon, declined to say much about the new charges. “I’m sorry; I don’t have any comment on that.‘'
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The tax charge is punishable by up to three years in federal prison if convicted, while the bookmaking charge is punishable by up to two years.
Poeta will be arraigned in federal court in Chicago but the date has not been set.
In 2008, he was accused in a civil case by the feds of being a bookie who accepted $647,211 in checks for gambling debts.
The judge at that time ruled that Poeta had to pay all the money back to the government for accepting bets by Chicago’s infamous check-kiter and wacky author, Adam Resnick, Tribune columnist John Kass wrote in 2008.
Resnick, Kass wrote, “was previously convicted of helping swindle a Chicago bank out of $10 million and gambling it away, hanging out on Rush Street with Outfit types, the politicians, the bar owners, cops and collectors who make their point by tenderizing your face like a veal cutlet. Poeta was given the alias “Luciano ‘Lucky’ Petrelli” in Resnick’s book about it all, ‘Bust.‘ ”
In 2008, Poeta told Kass he wasn’t a bookie, just a go-between. “I’m the guy who hooked him up,” Poeta said of Resnick. “I hooked him up with guys in our area. When he got too big for them, I hooked him up with guys in Vegas. I was just a go-between. He would take checks to me. And I would cash them. They didn’t want checks.”
When asked about the earlier charges on Thursday, Poeta said:
“That was something else. I just happened to be involved with a guy who was gambling. I was caught in the middle of this,‘' Poeta said. “This was a civil case.‘'
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rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s coronavirus recovery task force says city should fight poverty and racism, bu

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s coronavirus recovery task force says city should fight poverty and racism, but funding is uncertain

“ Throughout Chicago ’ s history — from rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire to building the Museum Campus to @ @ @ @ @ and the private sector have proven their ability to help transform our region for the @ @ @ @ @ concluded .
“ We urge you to join us in this fight to help our @ @ @ @ @ lay the groundwork for a more equitable and inclusive region for generations to come .
@ @ @ @ @ more important time than now .
”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks with Sam Skinner after presenting the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force Advisory Report at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago on Thursday, July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s task force on Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery recommends the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus, though it’s unclear how the city would pay for it amid significant financial woes.
The 104-page document released Thursday, assembled by a task force chaired by Lightfoot and former President George H.W. Bush’s onetime chief of staff, Sam Skinner, recommends the city pursue a series of big goals that have long eluded Chicago leaders.
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Chief among them is a series of recommendations aimed at fighting poverty and entrenched racism. The group’s report notes that COVID-19 has hit Black and Latino communities harder than white counterparts “and laid bare structural disparities in health outcomes, underlying health conditions, access to basic necessities, and safety net support.”
[ Read: The Chicago Recovery Task Force Advisory Report ]
“The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 echoes the underlying inequity our city faced pre-COVID-19. Dramatic life expectancy gaps exist across communities. These decades-wide gaps are a result of a continued legacy of systemic racism and disinvestment in Chicago’s communities of color,” the report notes. “In virtually every measure — from economic and food security to access to broadband and mental health services — Chicago’s communities of color are faring the worst, a wrong that must be righted with meaningful transformation and change. The Task Force recommends the city’s existing strategies be accelerated and scaled.”
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot takes questions from the media regarding the release of the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force Advisory Report on Thursday, July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Unveiling the report Thursday at the South Shore Cultural Center, Lightfoot said the city lost $900 million from canceled events as of April 20 and a third of Chicago jobs were at risk.
But she said the economic and public health crisis gives Chicago a chance to reinvent itself as a stronger, more equitable city — a transformation she said could be “the second Chicago renaissance.”
“This is a once-in-a-generation moment for us,” Lightfoot said.
Still, making the report’s aspirations a reality will be much harder than assembling a commission. Problems such as poverty and segregation are years in the making, and it’s not clear how the city would pay for all of its recommendations. Even the simple-sounding projects, such as creating a 211 phone line for people to call seeking social services, could be prohibitively expensive at a time when Chicago’s budget is squeezed by pension problems and the coronavirus-related economic shutdown.
Asked how the city can pay for it, Lightfoot said, “When you look at the choices that we make on investments, there are resources that are available,” but she didn’t specify.
Some of the report’s recommendations are broad and sweeping — one section of the report, for instance, calls for the city to end “economic hardship, and enable economic security and mobility.” Others deal with the nitty-gritty of Chicago’s economy and calls on officials to seize opportunities raised by the coronavirus crisis, including a recommendation that they “capture film and TV production opportunities given the lack of studio space in places like California.”
The report also says Chicago should continue pushing corporations to relocate their headquarters here, something the city was best in the country at under Lightfoot’s predecessor, Rahm Emanuel.
Lightfoot announced the task force in April, outside the Water Tower downtown as a nod to the city’s resilience and recovery from the Great Chicago Fire.
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At the time, Lightfoot said she wanted Chicago to be a model for recovery across the country. Since then, the city’s reopened broad swaths of industry, though officials continue to warn that they will shut down businesses if residents fail to heed social distancing rules or if coronavirus cases spike.
Socialist aldermen on the City Council criticized the task force when it was announced, including Aldermen Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Byron Sigcho Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez and Jeanette Taylor. In a commentary, they criticized the panel as having too many “corporate and finance insiders.” The new recommendations are likely to be received by critics on the right and left as fiscally imprudent and not progressive enough at the same time.
On Thursday, Sigcho-Lopez said the report doesn’t provide enough specifics or go far enough.
“I see an assessment of the disparities — that’s not new, a lot of people understand the disparities in the Black and brown and minority communities — but I don’t see a full plan or details,” he said.
The report also asks Chicago businesses to spend more to help the city achieve its goals.
“Throughout Chicago’s history — from rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire to building the Museum Campus to creating Millennium Park — corporations and the private sector have proven their ability to help transform our region for the better,” the report concluded. “We urge you to join us in this fight to help our recovery from COVID-19 and to lay the groundwork for a more equitable and inclusive region for generations to come. There is no better or more important time than now.”
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A broad array of political and business heavy hitters served on the task force, including Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments; Bob Reiter, the Chicago Federation of Labor’s president; Evelyn Diaz, president of the Heartland Alliance; Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and CEO of the Urban League of Chicago; Daniel Cronin, DuPage County Board chair; and Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president.
Some of the report’s recommendations touch political fault lines. One of the group’s ideas is to “increase access to mental and emotional health resources and services in communities,” including the creation of a dedicated “211 line” people can call “to access a broad range of social services.”
Lightfoot has frequently spoken about the need for more mental health resources but has been criticized for her administration’s approach to the issue. As a candidate, Lightfoot pledged to reopen mental health clinics closed by Emanuel but didn’t, prompting criticism from some advocates.
Instead, Lightfoot’s first budget offered what her administration said were fuller services by doubling the spending on mental health in 2020 and increasing outreach to at-risk groups such as young people and adults unlikely to come into the clinics, while working with nonprofit organizations that provide mental health services.
The task force report also praises some of the moves Lightfoot has taken as mayor, including her Invest South/West program, a plan that city officials said will distribute $750 million in existing city funds over the next three years with a priority on 10 areas on the South and West sides.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

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

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


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Illinois coronavirus graphs: 7,119 deaths, 150,450 confirmed cases, 1.88 million tests, 4.14% positi

Illinois coronavirus graphs: 7,119 deaths, 150,450 confirmed cases, 1.88 million tests, 4.14% positivity rate for Chicago area

Illinois announced 1,018 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday , the first time the state ’ s new daily @ @ @ @ @ 5 .
The tally brought the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois to 150,450 @

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


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Prosecutors: Man confessed to fatally beating older brother as he slept in Albany Park apartment

During a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube , prosecutors said Noffz admitted to the beating inside the apartment in the @ @ @ @ @ Park Avenue , saying he did so without a second thought .
At the scene @ @ @ @ @ he “ should have done this years ago .
”

An Albany Park man with a history of mental illness showed no remorse as he confessed to fatally beating his older brother as he slept in their Northwest Side apartment earlier this week, Cook County prosecutors told a judge on Thursday.
While talking to investigators shortly after his brother Philip was found bludgeoned in his bed Tuesday morning, Carl Noffz, 23, who now faces a first-degree murder charge, told authorities he struck the man six times with a wooden bat to ensure that he was dead.
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During a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube, prosecutors said Noffz admitted to the beating inside the apartment in the 4800 block of North Central Park Avenue, saying he did so without a second thought. At the scene, he also told police he “should have done this years ago.”
Carl Noffz, 23, was charged with murder after using a baseball bat to bludgeon his 28-year-old brother to death in the 4800 block of North Central Park Avenue on July 7, 2020, Chicago police said. (Chicago Police Department)
Judge Mary Marubio denied bail for Noffz, citing the “brutal, callous, and violent nature” of the attack, as well as his attempts to flee the apartment after the attack and an account from prosecutors that the bat in the attack was found hidden behind a dresser.
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A third brother was sleeping when Noffz jostled him awake just before 5:30 a.m., and confessed to beating Phillip Noffz with a bat and pleaded with the third brother to flee the home, Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said.
Police arrived and found the victim lying face up in bed, covered in blood and dressed in a T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks. Police at the scene said Carl Noffz did not appear to have any defensive wounds, DeBoni said.
Authorities gave no clues on what may have triggered the attack, but noted that Noffz had a history of mental illness, diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and had three voluntary mental health hospitalizations this year, prosecutors said.
Noffz’s court-appointed attorney argued against prosecution’s request for no bail, saying the circumstances leading up to the beating weren’t offered in court.
Noffz is scheduled to return to court July 28.
wlee@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--The retail bankruptcies and store closings just keep coming. For some merchants, the pandemic was ‘t

The retail bankruptcies and store closings just keep coming. For some merchants, the pandemic was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back.’

Stay-at-home orders , layoffs and furloughs dented consumer spending that is only now coming back in fits and starts .
@ @ @ @ @ sales rose an estimated 17.7 % in May compared with April , according to the @ @ @ @ @ , many consumers are dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic and worries about @ @ @ @ @ as an increase in new COVID-19 cases nationwide has led some states to slow their @ @ @

A person runs in front of the boarded up Neiman Marcus store on Michigan Ave. on March 23, 2020, in Chicago. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)
Many of America’s storied retailers already were facing big challenges, but the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened difficult decisions that will mean job losses and empty storefronts in the Chicago area and elsewhere.
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Stay-at-home orders, layoffs and furloughs dented consumer spending that is only now coming back in fits and starts. U.S. retail and food service sales rose an estimated 17.7% in May compared with April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, many consumers are dealing with the economic fallout of the pandemic and worries about venturing into stores, especially as an increase in new COVID-19 cases nationwide has led some states to slow their reopening plans.
Chains with deep roots are filing for bankruptcy. Others have sped up plans to close underperforming stores. And unlike in past retail reckonings, the list of tenants that might be interested in filling those spaces, like medical offices and fitness facilities, likely has shrunk, given economic concerns as well as social-distancing rules.
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U.S. retailers are on track to close between 20,000 and 25,000 stores this year, about 60% of them in malls, according to a June report from Coresight Research, a retail research firm. That’s up from the firm’s previous estimate in mid-March of 15,000 closings, and it would surpass the record 9,000 stores closures last year.
Department stores
Department stores have struggled for decades as the idea of a one-stop shop at the mall fell out of favor with consumers, and though several companies had been making progress on turnaround efforts, the pandemic “doubled down on the pace of the decline,” said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail.
J.C. Penney, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, has announced plans to close 154 of its roughly 850 stores, including locations in Bourbonnais, Carbondale, Freeport, and Mt. Vernon. The company warned it expects to shutter more locations in the coming weeks.
Even before the pandemic, the company had too many stores and needed stronger merchandise that would keep customers coming back, said Craig Johnson, president of retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners.
COVID-19 was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.
The J.C. Penney store at Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, Texas. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)
Neiman Marcus, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, simply had too much debt, Saunders said. A smaller number of stores and a clear focus on luxury shoppers should leave it in a better position if it can restructure, he said.
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Neiman Marcus hasn’t announced store closures, and its three Illinois department stores in Chicago, Oak Brook and Northbrook are open for curbside pickup and in-store shopping by appointment.
Meanwhile, Macy’s announced plans in late June to cut 3,900 corporate and management jobs. It also will reduce the number of employees in its stores, supply chain and customer support network while sales recover. Macy’s was planning to shrink even before the pandemic forced U.S. stores to close: In February, the company said it would close 125 stores, or one-fifth of its locations.
“While we continue to see challenges ahead, we’ve taken the necessary actions to stabilize our business and give us financial flexibility,” CEO Jeff Gennette said when the retailer reported first-quarter results earlier this month.
Nordstrom, which announced plans to close 16 department stores and its three Jeffrey boutiques in May, is laying off thousands of workers, according to The Seattle Times. None of the closing stores are in Illinois.
The company declined to confirm the number of employees affected but said in an email that the changes “enable us to respond to current economic conditions” and changes in the way customers shop.
Clothing chains
Specialty apparel retailers are facing some of the same challenges as department stores, including sizable debts, lost revenue from stores forced to close during the pandemic and questions about how long shoppers will put off nonessential spending or remain wary of heading back to malls. Chicago-area malls have reopened, though certain stores and restaurants may still be temporarily closed.
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Spending at bricks-and-mortar stores is expected to bounce back. About 45% of people said their spending in stores will return to normal as soon as COVID-19-related restrictions lift, according to a June survey by 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Nearly 40% expected their in-store spending to return to normal within three months.
Nevertheless, already this month, two specialty apparel retailers sought bankruptcy protection.
A pedestrian walks by a Lucky Brand retail store on July 6, 2020, in Corte Madera, California. Los Angeles-based Lucky Brand Dungarees filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the company is millions of dollars in debt. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Denim retailer Lucky Brand Dungarees filed for bankruptcy July 3 with plans to close 13 of its stores, including its Michigan Avenue location. The Los Angeles-based retailer operates more than 200 U.S. stores, mostly in shopping malls, and plans to retain most of them through a proposed sale, according to bankruptcy court filings.
On Wednesday, Manhattan-based men’s clothier Brooks Brothers filed for bankruptcy and will permanently close more than a quarter of its 200 stores, including a Loop location in the Rookery on LaSalle Street. The 200-year-old seller of high-end suits is known for dressing almost every U.S. president, including Abraham Lincoln.
Formal business attire and other office-friendly clothing was in decline even before the pandemic. Now that people are going into the office less often and attending fewer social events that require getting dressed up, there are even fewer reasons to stock closets with more than jeans and yoga pants.
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“The whole pandemic has made what was once a difficult job a really difficult job,” Saunders said.
J. Crew, known for its tailored “smart casual” clothing, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. J. Crew’s Madewell brand was a bright spot for the retailer, but the company was also laden with “crippling debt,” Saunders said.
The J. Crew store in the 3400 block of North Southport Avenue, in Chicago. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
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Women’s apparel retailer J. Jill and apparel and accessories chain Francesca’s both issued regulatory filings warning the effects of the pandemic raise doubts about whether the companies can stay in business. J. Jill also said it reached forbearance agreements with lenders that give it until July 16 to comply with some terms of the loans.
Ascena Retail Group, parent company of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant, also known for more tailored styles, is preparing to file for bankruptcy and plans to close 1,200 stores, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The Children’s Place plans to close 300 stores by the end of next year and wants stores in malls to account for less than 25% of its revenue by 2022, CEO Jane Elfers said in a news release last month.
Specialty retailers
The pandemic was especially tough for companies that were slower to invest in online shopping or saddled with too many stores, regardless of industry, said Sheryl Kingstone, head of customer experience and commerce at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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Discount retailer Tuesday Morning said it plans to close 230 stores, or about a third of its locations, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.
Closing sales are underway at stores in Naperville, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Merrillville, Indiana, according to the company’s website. That leaves five Chicago-area stores.
Discount chains like TJ Maxx and Ross have been doing well with consumers who are budget-conscious or just like hunting for a good bargain, but Tuesday Morning’s stores can feel too “haphazard,” Saunders said.
Other specialty retailers have said the pandemic accelerated plans to close stores, including vitamin and nutritional supplement seller GNC Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last month.
A couple walks past a GNC store at the company's world headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh on April 29, 2020. Health and wellness company GNC Holdings has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is looking to close as many as 1,200 stores. (Gene J. Puskar / AP)
GNC said it plans to close as many as 1,200 of its 5,200 U.S. stores, some of which are inside Rite Aid stores. That includes 13 Illinois locations, including stores in Chicago, Orland Park, Lincolnwood, Wilmette and Bannockburn.
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The company was working to refinance debt earlier this year but was not able to complete a deal after the pandemic hit and 40% of its stores were forced to close as nonessential businesses, chief financial officer Tricia Tolivar said in a filing with the bankruptcy court.
Mandated store closures also took a toll on cookware and kitchen chain Sur La Table, which filed for bankruptcy Wednesday and plans to close 56 of 126 stores nationwide, including five that did not reopen after stay-at-home orders lifted.
The Seattle-based company, known for its in-store cooking classes, is holding liquidation sales at 51 stores that will close in the next eight to 12 weeks, spokesman Phil Denning said. According to its website, stores at Oakbrook Center, the Arboretum of South Barrington and Northbook Court are slated to close.
Also Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond revealed plans to close about 200 stores over the next two years and further invest in digital sales. The closures represent about 21% of all stores and are expected to generate annualized savings between $250 million and $350 million, Chief Financial Officer Gustavo Arnal said on an earnings call.
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Technology sellers
Meanwhile, AT&T is closing 250 retail locations and laying off thousands of workers, according to Axios. A spokesman declined to confirm the number of closing stores or employees affected.
The showroom at Microsoft store sits empty on June 26, 2020, in Corte Madera, California. Microsoft announced it plans to close all of its 83 brick-and-mortar stores and switch to an online-only platform. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Microsoft also announced plans last month to close all its physical stores, including two Illinois locations at Oakbrook Center and Woodfield Mall. The company said it plans to focus on online sales, though it will keep Microsoft Experience Centers in London, New York City, Sydney, and near its Redmond, Washington, headquarters.
When Microsoft started opening mall stores, it appeared to be trying to copy Apple’s playbook, but never attracted the crowds who would come to check out the latest iPhone, Johnson said.
“Mallgoers aren’t really their target audience,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed.
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lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Chicago police: Man found dead inside his Edgewater Beach refrigerator

“ We were called for a report of a person unconscious and not breathing , ‘ ' said Chicago Fire @ @ @ @ @ “ We checked for signs of life and we documented the person was deceased.
‘ @

A 58-year-old man was found deceased inside his Edgewater Beach neighborhood apartment on Thursday morning, police said.
The unidentified man’s body was found “unresponsive in the refrigerator” about 10:35 a.m. in the 5700 block of North Sheridan Road, according to Chicago police spokeswoman Sally Bown.
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Emergency medical responders told police there were “signs of trauma” as well.
“We were called for a report of a person unconscious and not breathing,‘' said Chicago Fire department spokesman Larry Langford. “We checked for signs of life and we documented the person was deceased.‘'
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Langford did not have further information about the trauma or who called 911.
Police have launched a death investigation and said no one was in custody.
The cause of death has not yet been made public.
Check back for details.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Man charged with killing 2-year-old boy by hitting him in head

The death happened at the man ’ s address in the Bronzeville neighborhood , police said .
He was arrested @ @ @ @ @ .
Police previously said Robinson has mental illness , and that he hit the child @ @ @ @ @ with his fists .

A man has been charged in the beating death of a 2-year-old boy this week in the Bronzeville neighborhood, according to police.
Michael Robinson, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the Tuesday beating of Antwun Gayde, according to authorities.
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Robinson hit the boy in the head in the 4200 block of South Calumet Avenue about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to police. The boy was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon after being taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, according to authorities..
Michael Robinson, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 2-year-old boy on July 7, 2020. (Chicago Police Department)
The death happened at the man’s address in the Bronzeville neighborhood, police said. He was arrested at the scene Tuesday afternoon. Police previously said Robinson has mental illness, and that he hit the child in the face multiple times with his fists.
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The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide. An autopsy showed the boy died of multiple injuries from child abuse.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating, chief of staff Jassen Strokosch said. He added that DCFS had no prior contact with the family.
Chicago police released no further information Thursday morning.
Robinson was scheduled to appear in Cook County bond court Friday.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Highland Park woman says she has COVID-19, spit on fellow Costco shopper over mask dispute, police s

Highland Park woman says she has COVID-19, spit on fellow Costco shopper over mask dispute, police say

The woman rammed her shopping cart into the man ’ s cart and then began yelling at him , telling @ @ @ @ @ his mask back on because he was not outside the building yet , according to @ @ @

A Highland Park woman faces battery and disorderly conduct charges after authorities say she spit on a fellow Costco shopper after ramming a shopping cart into his cart and yelled, “I am a school teacher and I have COVID-19.”
After the June 16 confrontation, the woman fled the retail store, located in the 25900 block of Riverwoods Road, Mettawa, in her vehicle, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the incident.
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The woman was subsequently identified as Elizabeth H. Mach, 45, of the 500 block of Vine Avenue, Highland Park, according to a news release. Mach could not be reached for comment.
An investigation found that the confrontation began after a 50-year man was finished checking out and was in the process of exiting the store when he removed his face mask, according to the release.
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The woman rammed her shopping cart into the man’s cart and then began yelling at him, telling him he needed to put his mask back on because he was not outside the building yet, according to the release.
The man ignored the woman but she continued yelling at him, saying “I am a schoolteacher and I have COVID-19,” according to the release. She then removed her face covering and spit in the man’s face.
Surveillance of the incident was captured but can’t be released at this time because it has been placed into evidence, said Sgt. Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Mach was arrested without incident Wednesday, the day after detectives obtained an arrest warrant for two counts of battery and one count of disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $40,000 and Mach was released Wednesday evening after posting 10%.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Wisconsin Supreme Court backs GOP-authored lame-duck laws that stripped Democrats’ power

That last provision has proven the most divisive .
Kaul has said settlement discussions are confidential and has refused to @ @ @ @ @ the committee , putting tens of millions of dollars in potential settlement revenue in jeopardy @ @ @ @ @ committee has signed off on a handful of settlements after the litigants allowed Kaul to @ @ @ @ @ but no formal process exists for how to handle settlements under the lame-duck laws .

MADISON, Wis. — The conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Republican-authored lame-duck laws that stripped power from the incoming Democratic attorney general just before he took office in 2019.
The justices rejected arguments that the laws were unconstitutional, handing another win to Republicans who have scored multiple high-profile victories before the court in recent years.
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The 5-2 ruling marks the second time that the court has upheld the lame-duck laws passed in December 2018, just weeks before Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul, both Democrats, took office. The actions in Wisconsin mirrored Republican moves after losing control of the governor’s offices in Michigan in November 2018 and in North Carolina in 2016. Democrats decried the tactics as brazen attempts to hold onto power after losing elections.
The Wisconsin laws curtailed powers of both the governor and attorney general, but the case ruled on Thursday dealt primarily with powers taken from Kaul.
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The attorney general said in a statement that Republican legislators have demonstrated open hostility to both him and Evers and made it harder for state government to function. Evers echoed that sentiment in a statement of his own, saying Republicans have been working against him “every chance they get, regardless of the consequences.”
Thursday’s ruling involved a case filed by a coalition of labor unions led by the State Employees International Union. The coalition argued that the laws give the Legislature power over the attorney general’s office, a violation of the separation of powers doctrine in the state constitution. The doctrine grants each branch of government core powers: the Legislature writes laws, the executive branch enforces them and the judicial branch interprets them.
The laws at issue prohibit Evers from ordering Kaul to withdraw from lawsuits; let legislators intervene in lawsuits using their own attorneys rather than Kaul’s state Department of Justice lawyers; and force Kaul to get permission from the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee before setting lawsuits.
That last provision has proven the most divisive. Kaul has said settlement discussions are confidential and has refused to share details of cases with the committee, putting tens of millions of dollars in potential settlement revenue in jeopardy. In recent months the committee has signed off on a handful of settlements after the litigants allowed Kaul to share details of the deals but no formal process exists for how to handle settlements under the lame-duck laws.
The court ruled that the attorney general derives his powers from state statutes, not the constitution, and his role is not a core function of the executive branch. The Legislature clearly has an interest in joining lawsuits independently and signing off on settlements because it's responsible for spending the state's money, Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the majority.
"While representing the State in litigation is predominately an executive function, it is within those borderlands of shared powers, most notably in cases that implicate an institutional interest of the legislature," Hagedorn wrote.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who helped shepherd the laws through the lame-duck session, called the ruling a victory.
“A rogue attorney general can no longer unilaterally settle away laws already on the books,” he said.
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The court's two liberal justices, Rebecca Dallet and Ann Walsh Bradley, argued in dissent that the ruling blurs the lines between the executive and legislative branches.
“The power of the purse cannot be understood so broadly as to permit substantial burdens on another branch’s intersecting power,” Dallet wrote. “The Wisconsin Constitution, like the United States Constitution, does not contemplate an active role for the legislature in executing or in supervising the executive officers charged with executing the laws it enacts.”
The unions' attorneys didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Democrats and liberal groups have been trying to push back against the laws since they were passed but have had little success.
Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now persuaded a federal judge in January 2019 to block language in the law that restricted in-person early voting to the two weeks before an election.
The League of Women Voters and other groups filed a state lawsuit arguing the laws as a whole were invalid because Republican lawmakers passed them after the Legislature’s regular session had ended months earlier. The justices ruled last year that lawmakers can meet whenever they wish.
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The Supreme Court did deliver a partial win for Evers on Thursday, throwing out some of the rules the Legislature put in place that required his administration to rewrite thousands of government “guidance documents” and websites. The law also gave the Legislature more power to block rules written by the Evers administration.
The court found the rules were overly broad and unconstitutional. Evers had argued that the new requirements to rewrite documents were so extensive it would make it impossible for the executive branch to get information to the public.
Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Watch live: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot discusses COVID-19 recovery task force report

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will join Recovery Task Force Co-Chair Samuel Skinner to release the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force Advisory @ @ @ @ @ for 9:15 a.m. See what ’ s in the report here..

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chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Read: The Chicago Recovery Task Force Advisory Report

The group recommends the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ .

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s task force on Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery has released its final report.
The group recommends the city accelerate spending on the South and West sides to address inequities deepened by the coronavirus, according to a copy.
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The 104-page document released Thursday, was assembled by a task force chaired by Lightfoot and former President George H.W. Bush’s onetime chief of staff, Sam Skinner. Read more below.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--Man on motorbike dies after being hit by police responding to call in West Pullman

Police were traveling south in the 11800 block of South Halsted Street with their emergency lights on in response to @ @ @ @ @ the police media notification .
About 10:30 p.m. , the police vehicle collided with the @ @ @ @ @ going south , police said .

A police SUV on its way to a call struck and killed a 33-year-old man riding a motorbike in the West Pullman neighborhood Wednesday night, also injuring the three officers in the squad car, according to police.
Police were traveling south in the 11800 block of South Halsted Street with their emergency lights on in response to a call, according to the police media notification. About 10:30 p.m., the police vehicle collided with the motorbike, which also was going south, police said.
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The man, of south suburban Harvey, was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m., according to information from the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was dead at the scene, according to police.
Information on the man’s identity had not yet been released Thursday morning.
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Video from the scene showed the police SUV involved in the crash had extensive front-end damage after apparently jumping a curb and hitting a tree and showed a small motorbike in the middle of the road.
The officers were taken to area hospitals in fair condition, according to the police media notification. Police said the incident is under investigation by the police major accidents unit.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-07-09--7-month-old suffers graze wound in West Side shooting

The boy was in the vehicle with two female relatives about 10 p.m. in the 1100 block of South Albany @ @ @ @ @ , according to police .

A 7-month-old boy suffered a graze wound from a bullet as he rode with relatives in a car and someone in another vehicle started shooting at people on a nearby corner late Wednesday in the Lawndale neighborhood, police said.
The boy was in the vehicle with two female relatives about 10 p.m. in the 1100 block of South Albany Avenue when he was shot, according to police.
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He was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition with a graze wound to ankle the following the shooting, police said,
The shooting happened when someone in a black SUV pulled up next to the family’s car as they drove and started shooting people standing outside on a nearby corner, according to a police media notification.
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No one was else injured, police said. The two relatives with the boy were not believed to have been targets.
No one was in custody as Harrison Area detectives investigated.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-07-08--Death of woman, 96, ruled homicide following stabbing on South Side: officials say

Both of the women who were stabbed were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center , according to the @ @ @ @ @ an updated media notification , police said the younger woman ’ s age was 73 @ @ @ @

A man is comforted in the 7700 block of South Laflin Street in Chicago on July 7, 2020, near the scene of a reported fatal stabbing incident. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
A 96-year-old woman was killed and a 73-year-old woman was seriously hurt when a 41-year-old man stabbed both of them multiple times in the Gresham neighborhood Tuesday morning, according to police.
Emergency crews were called to the 7700 block of Laflin Avenue about 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to a Chicago police media notification. The older woman, 96-year-old Myrtis Jackson, was stabbed multiple times with a pitchfork, according to other police information and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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Jackson, who was pronounced dead at 11:43 a.m., also lived in the same block where she was killed, the medical examiner’s office said.
An autopsy Wednesday determined the primary cause of her death was multiple injuries from an assault, with heart disease listed as a secondary cause of death. Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide.
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Police initially were called for a mental health disturbance and a battery in progress, police spokeswoman Sally Bown said
Both of the women who were stabbed were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the police media notification. In an updated media notification, police said the younger woman’s age was 73, not 57.
The man was taken to St. Bernard Hospital for injuries he suffered during the attack.
Police said the man has a history of mental illness and as of Wednesday evening, no charges had been announced.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--After historic responses to COVID-19 and civil unrest, Illinois National Guard winds down its deploy

After historic responses to COVID-19 and civil unrest, Illinois National Guard winds down its deployment

“ We ’ re not law enforcement officers , ” Neely said .
“ As guardsmen , we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ war and we do not need to go to war in our cities .
... @ @ @ @ @ ( troops ) were not putting their hands on civilians .
So we didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ some of those other missions .
We focused on supporting law enforcement , allowing them @ @ @ @ @ ’ re best trained to do .
”

Airman Katia Campos of Chicago, a member of the Illinois National Guard, works at the COVID-19 testing site at South Suburban College in South Holland on July 2, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois National Guard was already in the midst of an unprecedented mission, on the ground around the state administering thousands of COVID-19 tests, when there was another urgent call for help.
Protests over the death of George Floyd had given way to looting, vandalism and violent clashes in parts of Chicago, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker called for the Guard to assist police in quelling the unrest. It was clear even more of their troops would need to be deployed.
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“Those folks all packed their bags, put on their uniforms, laced their boots up really tight and were on the street within 10 to 12 hours,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard Neely said Thursday while reflecting on the Guard’s historic mission that is now winding down.
With the motto “Always ready, always there,” members of the Guard are used to being called up when disaster strikes at home or overseas. But never in its nearly 300-year history has it been put to the test more than this year, Neely said, as members responded to the high-risk coronavirus pandemic and walked a fine line assisting police at protests without overstepping their role.
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As the spread of COVID-19 slows in Illinois, Neely told the Tribune it’s a perfect time for the Guard to step out and allow the remaining active service members to return to their daily lives after a mandatory two-week, post-deployment quarantine period. Roughly 100 service members will remain active through July to assist contract staffers at testing sites and perform other duties during the transition.
After fighting floods and election-related cybersecurity attacks earlier this year, nearly 3,000 troops have aided in various missions across Illinois since March. At the height of its response, about 1,400 troops were on duty in Illinois.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard Neely of the Illinois National Guard, left, speaks with Capt. Jacek Siewiera of the Polish delegation while on a conference call at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates on April 29, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
“We call them citizen soldiers because they’re civilians. In day-to-day life, they’re our neighbors, folks you go to church with, or who you see at a grocery store, the bank or a synagogue,” said Neely, the Illinois adjutant general. “These aren’t full-time warriors. They’re part time, and they come when the state calls.”
Civil unrest
Among the most challenging of missions came in June after Gov. J.B. Pritzker deployed the troops to help police deal with massive demonstrations across Illinois, especially Chicago.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had asked the governor to send the Guard to help tamp down the violence, the first time the city has made such a request since Mayor Richard J. Daley brought in troops for the ill-fated Democratic National Convention in 1968.
Such a job is one that Neely said he is “the least comfortable with.” He said the governor, local mayors and others involved in the emergency response supported his stance for a less aggressive approach.
Illinois National Guard Spc. Jaime Soto, left, and Spc. Nick Wolotowsky direct traffic while working with the Illinois State Police to run a checkpoint along Cermak Road where traffic is stopped before entering downtown Chicago on June 1, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Troops secured street closures, controlled traffic flow and guarded malls and other infrastructure while working closely with the Illinois State Police. Besides Chicago, the Guard also assisted in suburbs like Aurora and Naperville and other parts of the state.
They had explicit orders not to interfere with peaceful protesters.
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“We’re not law enforcement officers,” Neely said. “As guardsmen, we’re military. We go to war and we do not need to go to war in our cities. ... It was important to me (troops) were not putting their hands on civilians. So we didn’t do riot control and some of those other missions. We focused on supporting law enforcement, allowing them to do the things they’re best trained to do.”
Coronavirus emergency
The primary mission of the Illinois National Guard since March has been on the pandemic’s front line. It marked the first time soldiers and airmen has been mobilized to primarily combat a medical issue in Illinois.
Members of the Illinois Air National Guard work on a construction of the new McCormick Place alternate care facility in Chicago on April 10, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
In most mobilizations, members — many of whom had medical backgrounds — play behind-the-scenes roles. In the time of the coronavirus, however, they represent the military’s proverbial tip of the spear.
Neely said they took that responsibility seriously. Members handled a variety of jobs including assisting local health departments with reporting, providing medical assistance at Illinois prisons, working at the Cook County morgue and at the alternate care facility at McCormick Place.
No job proved more valuable — or directly helped more citizens — than their work at the Illinois Department of Public Health’s virus testing sites. The troops conducted about 233,000 tests since March, as they fought an invisible, largely unknown enemy in a war unlike any the military has ever waged.
Though the median deployment time is about 45 days, many extended their service, Neely said. For example, about 150 soldiers spent more than 100 days at testing sites.
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Senior Airman Katia Campos, 21, raised her hand repeatedly to stay after helping to open up the first location in Harwood Heights, which Neely said became a national model that other states emulated, with members early on completing the daily capacity of 750 tests within five or six hours.
Airman Katia Campos of Chicago, a member of the Illinois National Guard, works at the COVID-19 testing site at South Suburban College in South Holland on July 2, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Vehicles line up as members of the Illinois National Guard work at the COVID-19 testing site at South Suburban College in South Holland on July 2, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
An emergency medical technician who lives in Jefferson Park, Campos had duties including overseeing testing and regularly checking the vital signs of service members. She worked at three testing sites. As Campos performed the nasal swabs in the pandemic’s early days, she recognized neighbors and co-workers coming through the line.
She saw their fear and uncertainty, and she knew, in that moment, that she would stay as long as the state needed her.
“It made me feel like I was making difference for my community during a very difficult time. That’s why I joined the National Guard in the first place,” said Campos, whose deployment began in March. “I wanted to see the mission through, no matter what.”
And there were difficult days. The troops worked during the violent spring weather, soldiering through snowstorms, downpours and oppressive heat. They also erected 11 testing sites from scratch, often getting them up and running within two days.
Members of the Illinois National Guard suit up in personal protective gear, March 26, 2020, to begin shifts at their coronavirus testing facility on the Northwest Side. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
By necessity, much of the typical military protocol was turned on its head during the mission. To keep the coronavirus at bay, service members did not sleep near each other on cots, eat in large groups or spend much time together outside their shifts unless it was necessary.
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Instead, they hunkered down in individual hotel rooms. Meetings were largely held via video conference, though participants were sometimes quartered just floors apart. Even the evening formation was reduced to the soldiers and airmen checking in with their supervisors via text message.
Campos admits it could be lonely, especially on days like Easter and Mother’s Day when she couldn’t be with her family. Even though her family was just a few miles away during her initial post, Campos told them to keep away for their own safety.
Instead, she has settled for regular FaceTime calls with her mom. The two last saw each other in mid-March.
“There was so much we didn’t know in the beginning and I just wanted to keep everyone safe,” she said. “The last thing any of (the Illinois National Guard members) wanted to do is expose someone to the virus accidentally.”
Illinois Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Samuel Rene also worried about his parents, both of whom work at health care facilities. In the early days at the Harwood Heights testing site, the 29-year-old Rogers Park man would come back from his shift and spend the rest of the night scouring the internet to purchase personal protective equipment for his parents.
In addition to his military responsibilities, Rene also continued working on his master’s degree in public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Rene says he fell behind on his studies at the beginning of his deployment, but with help from supportive professors, he completed the semester with a 4.0 grade-point average.
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Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Bobzin takes personal information from a client at the Illinois National Guard drive-thru testing facility at the state emissions testing site in Markham on May 15, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Indeed, many of the troops deployed for the COVID-19 mission were college students who finished their semesters from their hotel rooms. About two dozen graduated from college while working at testing sites.
Rene could have made it easier on himself by returning home earlier. But as one of the supervisors at the testing sites, he believed he had an obligation to help as long as the mission lasted. He worked at three testing sites and has stayed in five different hotels since March.
“This is a moment to do something important within my community,” he said. “I wasn’t going to walk away from it.”
A person uses a swab at the Illinois National Guard drive-thru testing facility in Markham on May 15, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The testing procedure evolved during the mission, beginning with the troops conducting the nasal swabs and progressing to the point where patients now do it themselves. The understanding of the virus also changed, as scientists learned more about how it was spread and best prevented.
Thirty-three members tested positive for COVID-19 during their deployments, an infection rate of about 1.2%, Neely said. All have either recovered or are recovering. Only a couple needed care outside the Guard’s internal medical support.
‘We’re always here'
Both Rene and Campos are serving two weeks of post-deployment quarantine. Rene is back home; Campos is spending the two weeks at a hotel. Both will receive the Armed Forces Service Medal and Humanitarian Service Medal from the U.S. Department of Defense to recognize their service.
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Campos will go back to her job as an EMT with a private ambulance company, while Rene will return to school in the fall. Each said they would raise their hand to help again if a second wave rises.
“I think this experience has made me a better person,” Campos said. “It has taught me to think of other people and sacrifice in a way that I never had to before. I’m definitely better for having served during this time.”
Members of the Illinois National Guard assemble at their convoy before sunrise, March 26, 2020, in the parking lot of Rivers Casino to begin the day's work at a coronavirus testing site on Chicago's Northwest Side. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Brig. Gen. Neely said he couldn’t be prouder of his troops’ dedication and professionalism during such a historic time. When asked to reflect on particular moments, he recalled the devastation caused to downtown Chicago amid some of the civil unrest. But, just a week later, he said, his spirits were lifted in watching the peaceful protests of thousands of people exercising their First Amendment rights.
“It gives you a lot of hope despite such challenging times for our country,” he said.
Should the virus-related statistics rise sharply, and the governor again call up members, Neely cited the Guard’s motto and promised they’d be back. He noted more than 1,000 Illinois National Guard members remain deployed overseas.
“We’re always here,” he said, “and ready in a moment’s notice.”
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sstclair@chicagotribune.com
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Column: Chicago could be homicide-free if it follows Trump’s coronavirus logic — stop counting and i

Column: Chicago could be homicide-free if it follows Trump’s coronavirus logic — stop counting and it goes away!

He tweeted : “ … the reason we show so many Cases , compared to other countries that haven ’ @ @ @ @ @ as we have , is that our TESTING is much bigger and better .
We @ @ @ @ @ If we did 20,000,000 instead , Cases would be half , etc .
”

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 9, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
If Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot were to follow what I call the Trump Theory of Astonishing Numerical Ignorance, the city could easily drive its homicide numbers down to zero.
It’s simple. President Donald Trump has said repeatedly, and wrote again in a tweet Thursday, that America has a world-leading number of coronavirus cases only because a large number of Americans have been tested.
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He tweeted: “… the reason we show so many Cases, compared to other countries that haven’t done nearly as well as we have, is that our TESTING is much bigger and better. We have tested 40,000,000 people. If we did 20,000,000 instead, Cases would be half, etc.”
That’s a smart analysis, assuming you lack object permanence. It’s a bit like saying, “I ate four doughnuts, but I only counted half of them, so in reality, I only ate two doughnuts.”
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By applying Trump’s coronavirus outbreak reasoning, Lightfoot could easily transform Chicago into the least violent city in the nation: Just stop counting all the people getting shot.
Then send a tweet that reads: “The only reason Chicago has so many homicides compared to other cities is that our COUNTING is much bigger and better. If we stopped counting, the number of homicides would be zero. So to better protect Chicagoans, we will stop counting. Everything’s fine now.”
You don’t have to squint much to see a parallel in how violence has historically been handled in Chicago and the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Endless Band-Aid-over-a-bullet-wound attempts to bring down our city’s annual body count have failed, and just as Trump has refused to create a comprehensive national strategy to halt the spread of COVID-19, city officials have never pursued a comprehensive local strategy to halt the spread of violence.
But on Thursday, I saw a tiny glimmer of hope in a report produced by the city’s COVID-19 Recovery Task Force. In studying the virus’s deadly impact on Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, the task force addressed the racial inequity that everyone inside and outside the city knows exists:
“At the root of the unequal impact of COVID-19 in our region is a history of racial inequity and injustice. COVID-19 has served as a catalyst for the consequences of the pervasive inequity that exists across Chicago’s communities and extends far beyond access to healthcare. The virus laid bare and exacerbated existing racial inequities present in Chicago in wealth, education, housing, overall access to opportunities, and more.”
We didn’t need a virus to figure this out, but it’s still encouraging to see Chicago’s racial and socioeconomic divides called out.
The report suggests scaled-up investment in the South and West sides of the city: increased job training and apprenticeship programs; expanded access to mental health care; and wider internet access for students in struggling schools (for example, 46% of West Englewood children under 18 don’t have broadband internet).
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And it broadly states that the city “must tackle intergenerational poverty and widespread economic hardship that holds our city back by growing our economy inclusively rather than expecting the benefits of growth to trickle down.”
Three points under that statement are:
1) “End economic hardship, and enable economic security and mobility.”
2) “Prioritize changes that make a meaningful impact on the economic well-being of the individuals and businesses that have been most disenfranchised.”
3) “Reduce the expenses and costs of being poor, using a racial equity lens to assess how those costs manifest.”
Remember, this is from a task force report dealing with the coronavirus. But these are the exact steps the city needs to take to substantively change the circumstances that breed year-in and year-out violence.
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I’m a broken record on this point: Chicago can’t police its way out of its homicide problem. If you want proof, just look at how the numbers ebb and flow but never drop to a sane level.
Change requires police, education, economic opportunity, mental health and medical care, safe places for kids to play and all the things that make up any healthy community.
The COVID-19 Recovery Task Force’s report is what it is: words on paper. It doesn’t explain how things get paid for or guarantee the ideas will do anything more than gather dust.
Nearly 20 years in Chicago have made me abundantly cynical when it comes to believing anyone actually cares enough to do anything about the hundreds of children and adults gunned down each year, as long as those children and adults aren’t wealthy or white.
But the task force nails the outlines of a path toward a safer and more equitable city. It gets right the idea that barriers put up long ago to keep lower-income people of color apart from the rest of the city have to come down for all neighborhoods to prosper.
Without big moves, without having the guts and valuing human life enough to spend money, the city might as well follow the Trump Theory of Astonishing Numerical Ignorance — stop counting homicides and proclaim victory over violence.
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As the president has implied: If you don’t count ‘em, they don’t count.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Chicago air is dirtier in July than smog-choked Los Angeles. More bad air is forecast.

“ We are seeing an ever increasing number of warmer days where it is more likely to have larger ozone @ @ @ @ @ issues , ” said Donald Wuebbles , an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of @ @ @ @ @ in some ways may be decreasing somewhat , the tendency of the changing climate is @ @ @ @ @ air quality can be an issue .
”

Chicago seen from the South Shore neighborhood on a muggy, hot and humid afternoon July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
After missing out on cleaner air during the coronavirus lockdown, the Chicago area just suffered its longest streak of high-pollution days in more than a decade.
Nine consecutive days of bad air swept through the region amid an emerging scientific link between exposure to pollution and COVID-19 death rates. Low-income, predominantly Black and Latino communities are being hit the hardest.
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Air quality has been so poor, the entire Chicago area ended up dirtier than notoriously smog-choked Los Angeles during the beginning of the month, according to a Chicago Tribune review of federal data.
Satellites and land-based monitors tracked how unusually hot, sunny weather in the Midwest baked exhaust from automobile tailpipes, diesel engines and factory smokestacks into smog, also known as ground-level ozone.
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Independence Day celebrations added to the problem. Stagnant air prevented soot pollution released by fireworks from dispersing, increasing the likelihood that even healthy people had trouble breathing during the holiday weekend.
Lake Michigan also played a role. Smog-forming pollutants — scientists call them precursors — collect over the lake on sunny days, then drift inland during late afternoons.
“If you have precursors cooking up in this sunny zone and then the lake breeze pushes all of that air back toward the shore, it can make for a really crummy day,” said Patricia Cleary, a University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire chemist involved in a federal study of smog sources and trends in Lake Michigan states.
The lake effect often leaves vacation spots like Door County, Wisconsin, and Saugutuck, Michigan, with more high-smog days than Chicago. But not so far this year.
Swells of lung-damaging, life-shortening pollution prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify seven of the first nine days of July as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in Chicago and its suburbs, meaning children, older adults and people with lung or heart disease should limit outdoor activity.
Smog rises over the Chicago skyline as vehicles move south along Interstate 90 at Fullerton on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Both days after the Fourth of July fell into the “unhealthy” category. Everyone is advised to cut back on being outside on those days.
Chronically dirty air is one of the consequences of extreme weather triggered by climate change.
“We are seeing an ever increasing number of warmer days where it is more likely to have larger ozone production and other air quality issues,” said Donald Wuebbles, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Illinois. “While emissions in some ways may be decreasing somewhat, the tendency of the changing climate is to produce more days where air quality can be an issue.”
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The Trump administration agrees, on paper at least. Its 2018 National Climate Assessment concluded that “Midwestern populations are already experiencing adverse health impacts from climate change, and these impacts are expected to worsen in the future.”
At the same time, President Donald Trump has spent the past three years weakening clean air regulations. His political appointees have repeatedly brushed aside recommendations from independent scientists finding smog and soot are more dangerous than previously thought.
In April, for instance, the Trump EPA declined to tighten national standards for soot, siding with Republican lawmakers and industry lobbyists who for decades have fought regulations requiring progressively less pollution from vehicles, power plants, factories and oil refineries.
The Chicago skyline looks hazy from Whihala Beach in Whiting, Indiana on July 2, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
The administration also overruled career EPA staff and trimmed the number of counties in the Chicago area required to adopt smog-fighting measures such as more stringent limits on industrial pollution, tailpipe-emissions monitoring and vapor controls on gasoline pumps.
“Obviously Illinois isn’t doing enough to reduce ozone smog levels,” said Brian Urbaszewski, director of environmental health policy at the Respiratory Health Association of Chicago. “The problem persists year after year, and people’s lungs suffer the effects.”
Urbaszewski’s organization and other environmental groups are fighting back with lawsuits and political pressure. They often are joined by lawyers for Democratic-led city and state governments, including Chicago and Illinois.
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One such legal challenge prompted a federal appeals court Friday to order the Trump EPA to reconsider its 2018 decision absolving all or part of 16 counties from joining their urban neighbors in fighting smog.
Among those affected are northwest suburban McHenry County, Porter County, Ind., Ottawa County, Mich., and ten Lake Michigan counties in Wisconsin. Smog concentrations in the counties either exceed federal standards or contribute to violations in downwind communities.
Documents in government files show Trump appointees dropped McHenry from its latest list of smog violators after a letter and phone call from Alec Messina, an industry lobbyist who at the time served as director of the Illinois EPA under then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia noted the Trump EPA failed to defend why it relaxed smog-fighting requirements in McHenry. Monitoring data shows air pollution in the county is on the rise.
“This incongruity ... renders EPA’s explanation suspect,” the court concluded.
Under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act, more stringent regulation of industrial emissions will almost certainly be required in the Chicago area if current trends continue.
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“It’s complicated, but the weather has been very conducive this year to smog,” said Zac Adelman, executive director of the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium, a group of state officials from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Researchers eventually will be able to identify sources of recent smog and soot pollution by analyzing the chemical composition of particles collected inside filter-based monitoring equipment.
Similar to what occurred during the lockdown, likely culprits include buildings, factories and diesel engines that burn coal, oil or natural gas. Diesel emissions in particular remain a problem in Chicago, a racially segregated freight hub where rail yards, warehouses and intermodal facilities are concentrated in low-income, predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
Those areas also are suffering disproportionately from the COVID-19 disease. A team of Harvard data scientists recently determined that a person living for decades in a county with high levels of soot is 8% more likely to die from the coronavirus than someone in an area with one microgram less of the pollution per cubic meter of air.
The Tribune reported in May that average daily soot concentrations in the Chicago area declined by only 1% the previous month compared with April 2019. By contrast, soot levels in New York City dropped 28%; Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles and St. Louis each saw a 16% decline in the tiny particles of pollution during the first full month of shelter-in-place orders.
Conditions worsened as summer arrived. Chicago recorded the most “unhealthy” days in June since 2012, the Tribune analysis found.
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With more hot, sunny weather in the forecast, air quality likely will remain poor for the rest of July. High temperatures are expected to hover in the 90s starting again on Tuesday.


chicagotribune--2020-07-10--Column: City expands reopening of Riverwalk, restoring path to full, daylong use

After 11 a.m. , only isolated segments of the Riverwalk , like the stretch between LaSalle and Lake streets , @ @ @ @ @ That inconvenienced people who count on the path for a workout and use it to @ @ @ @ @ Trail .

Visitors to the Riverwalk find paths filled with tables, chairs and barriers signaling a closed off Riverwalk along the Chicago River in Chicago on July 9, 2020. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Since it reopened in June, Chicago’s popular downtown Riverwalk has operated under rules that limited when and where people could use the path but let restaurants and bars expand their seating onto the public space.
While the arrangement helped the establishments recover from the economic hit they took after Mayor Lori Lightfoot closed the Riverwalk in March, public space advocates called it an unwarranted takeover that denied joggers, walkers and others full use of the path.
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On Friday, however, Lightfoot’s administration will restore the Riverwalk’s former hours — 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. — and reopen the path to the public during those hours.
The move follows by two weeks Lightfoot’s reopening of the Lakefront Trail, which the mayor also closed in March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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It comes after Illinois on Thursday reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time since June 5.
Based on a survey of the number of people now using the Riverwalk, “we think it’s going to be safe for operations of both business and recreation to happen simultaneously,” said Hali Levandoski, a deputy press secretary.
Social distancing ambassadors will be present to encourage people using the Riverwalk to use face coverings, she said, while restaurants and bars will still be required to take reservations to ensure social distancing.
The establishments will still be allowed to have some tables and chairs along the Riverwalk’s shared path, but pedestrians “will be able to make it all the way through,” said Michelle Woods, the Riverwalk’s project manager.
Woods also said the Riverwalk’s Community Market, which normally has seven kiosks, would reopen with three. The market is between Michigan and Wabash avenues.
Completed in the last year and now a signature attraction of the city, the 1.25-mile Riverwalk extends from Lake Street to Lake Michigan. It runs along the east-west leg of Wacker Drive and the south bank of the Chicago River’s main branch.
On a typical summer day, scores of downtown office workers and tourists stroll along the path and take in views of skyscrapers.
But the Riverwalk’s close-quarters mix of recreation and commerce was seen as an opening for the coronavirus to spread.
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When the Riverwalk reopened June 12, city officials limited recreational use of the entire path to a five-hour stretch from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.
After 11 a.m., only isolated segments of the Riverwalk, like the stretch between LaSalle and Lake streets, were open for exercise. That inconvenienced people who count on the path for a workout and use it to connect to the 18-mile-long Lakefront Trail.
As part of the rules announced in June, restaurants, bars and other concessions were permitted to open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
From 11 a.m. onward, the establishments were allowed to place tables and chairs in the Riverwalk’s public path. That step gave the establishments more seating capacity and proved popular with customers who liked to sit by the water, but it also drew criticism.
Asked how often people would complain about the limited opportunity to use the path, Nick Ray, general manager of the Riverwalk’s City Winery, said Wednesday: ”Multiple times a day.”
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On Twitter, Alexander Eisenschmidt, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, previously called the situation a “hostile takeover of public space by businesses.”
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Some pedestrians moved barricades intended to prevent them from using the entire trail, Woods said.
The city has an interest in maintaining the economic health of businesses along the Riverwalk.
Of the $16.5 million in overall revenues generated by Riverwalk businesses in 2019, $1.3 million was allocated to a federal fund that was used to finance construction of the Riverwalk between State and Lake streets, according to city officials.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin